When World's Collide
by die-kokolores
Summary: Another job, another Noble. D believes this to be true, but these feelings dont last forever. During a fight, D accidentaly opens a hole in time, and finds himself in a differnt age all together! Can he get out?
1. When Worlds Collide

_Hello! Welcome to my first VHD fic! I really hope y'all like it, but if you dont, feel free to let me know. =D _

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own Vampire Hunter D, D's world, Dracula, or the name Valentine (that belongs to Vincent from FF VII)...because if I owned any of those, I'd be making tons of money and would be amazingly genius and awesome. Though all other characters, including Luna, are from my weird head. _

* * *

A dark figure rode silently up a dimly lit trail. The path was narrow and heavily overgrown yet the figure in black had no trouble maneuvering through the logs, branches, and underbrush covering the path; which would have made the trek difficult for any average rider. The trail widened suddenly into a road lined by gigantic trees on both sides. Each tree must have been over one hundred feet tall and their massive trunks were larger than four grown men. Their large branches made a high ceiling over the road, making the light dim as twilight though it was high noon. After two miles, the tall, elegant gates of a large castle loomed ominously at the end of the dark tunnel. The rider nudged his mount in the flank and broke into a gallop.

The rider halted in front of the massive structure, which up close revealed the castle to be nothing but gigantic ruins. Though the walls had gigantic cracks and holes and the north tower had collapsed, the castle hadn't completely crumbled and one could still see how breathtaking it must have been in its heyday a millennia ago. Dismounting and tying the cyborg horse's reigns to a near by tree, the tall rider in black approached the massive castle doors. His hand stopped just shy of the handle. The rider raised his gaze upward; with grey lifeless eyes set in a deathly white face as flawless and beautiful has an angle's, he eyed the hidden laser cannons and noble defense mechanisms pointed his way. The blue pendant on his chest glowed briefly and the weapons seemed to droop and shut down completely. The man in black silently opened the large heavy doors and stepped inside the ruins.

The inside was dark and musty. A large, circular room with a high ceiling that had long sense collapsed in the center was revealed before the Hunter. A giant, winding staircase stood at the far end of the room across from the threshhold. On the bottom step stood a tall figure in a gray cloak. The hood was pulled up over its pale face, shielding it from the rays of sunlight that filtered through the opening in the arched ceiling. The Hunter and the figured in gray starred at each other in a piercing silence. Neither moved as time trickled by slowly.

"I've been waiting for you, D." The figure in gray said finally with a voice that seemed to ring and chime like bells.

The Hunter in black did not reply.

"I suppose you have not a clue as to why I called you here. After all you must find it unusual for a vampire hunter like yourself to be called upon by the vary creature it hunts…I look forward to night so I may discuss the matters of your coming with you in person, until then."

The figure in the gray cloak vanished, leaving D alone in the large hall. "So what are you gonna do till dark?" a hoarse voice asked from around D's left hip. D turned on his heel and headed out of the ruins, not bothering to reply to the voice's inquiry.

Hours later; the sky grew darker as twilight descended on the ruins. D entered the castle ruins and stood just inside the door, waiting. The sun disappeared completely over the horizon and night was here at last. A single ray of blue light shone through the gap in the ceiling giving off a faint glow and casting long shadows from the rubble that littered the floor. "D?" The quiet, musical voice from earlier that day was the first sound of the night. A young woman stood at the top of the giant staircase. Her pale skin nearly matched the hue of the snow white gown she wore. Her long silver hair flowed down to her ankles. Her ice blue eyes and her body shown with such radiance as if her, herself were made of the moonlight.

"I'm so glad to finally meet you in person." She purred from voluptuous crimson lips.

"What is my business here?" D asked, speaking for the first time that day.

"Oh! Mr. Down-to-business huh?" The noblewoman scoffed. "That's what D must stand for…Down-to-business. You just don't give anyone the time of day! Not even me, a Noble! Why don't we at least take the time to introduce ourselves."

"I know who you are." D said coldly, his words slicing through the crisp air like ice. "Why do you call me?"

The woman sighed. "Well aren't I allowed to at least introduce myself _formally_? The letter you received was rather brief." "I am Luna Lukami, the noble of this castle and ruler of this forest and the pitiful human village bellow. Why don't you walk with me while I explain to you the task I ask you to do for me?"

D followed the noblewomen through the castle and into a large courtyard where she began. "For thousands of years the noble family, Lukami has been at war over control over the human village near by. Spread out over many castles around the area, we still fight today, thousands of years later; no one surrenders or is overthrown. I begin to fear that we're locked in this never-ending dispute for eternity. I need your help to end this stupid war amongst the Lukami family for good and ensure that I, Luna Lukami, the eldest and superior of my brothers and sisters, take charge of the human village. I'll pay you generously to take care of them all. Besides-"

"I am not a weapon for war." D interrupted, his tone cold as icily.

"Sure but aren't you a Vampire Hunter?" Luna inquired. "You kill Nobles for money do you not?"

"I am not a tool to help you cheat your way to victory." D repeated. "Besides, I don't take jobs from Nobles. Solve your battle yourself or hire some other fool. You don't need my help," Saying that, D walked back towards the castle entrance. Luna ran after him. Murderous rage filled her cold blue eyes and distorted her flawless white face. "How can you refuse?! I'm hiring you to kill the nobility! Come back here!"

"And you're a noble yourself." D said, "If I took your offer I'd have to kill you as well."

"Well then go ahead!" Luna shouted, "The Nobility's time has come to an end anyway!"

D didn't reply.

"I wont let you leave without a fight!" Luna cried, drawing an elegantly decorated dagger from within her thin white gown; It was a mystery as to wear she hid such a weapon. D turned, facing the noble. He stood with his arms hanging harmlessly at his sides, making no effort to draw his blade. Luna raised an eyebrow at his nonchalant stance but quickly returned to her fierce glare. "Prepare to die Damphir!" She cried, flying toward the man in black. Too quickly for the human eye to follow, D was in the air too with his elegant long sword lined in an arc toward Luna's heart. Just as his blade met hers, a sickening ripping sound could be heard and a black gap opened up in mid air as if D had sliced the vary molecules in the air instead of Luna. The hole widened into a gapping black vortex and D, unable to avoid the abyss, fell through the gap.

You could say the world that lay inside the hole was almost beautiful. D flew, or fell through space and time, speeding past little points of light that looked like stars surrounded by an inky blackness. All D's senses seemed to have left him as he fell. He couldn't feel a thing. Not even the air rushing past him, because there was none. There was no smell; his sense of direction had abandoned him completely. He could only see blackness. Suddenly there was a blinding light and D's senses returned instantly. He was falling down. He could smell ozone and felt the air rush past him. He fell through fog, which he realized to be clouds. All around him, a deep blue sky stretched on forever. D looked down, a sprawling mass of gray lie bellow; a gigantic city. He could see small rectangular blocks, which he recognized to be buildings, but they were too close together. Ribbons of gray stretched between clusters of buildings, etching a grid shaped pattern across the concrete jungle. There was a harbor too, and deep blue water where small specks floated; boats.

The civilization was approaching fast, rushing up to meet D. He could even see hundreds of thousands of machines running along the streets separating the blocks of buildings. They reminded him of the ancient motorized vehicles of the past he recalled back in his world, dimension, whatever it was he had left. Automobiles they were called. "This is gonna hurt!" A hoarse voice cried from D's left hand. At that moment, a loud screeching sound was heard and something solid collided with D, disrupting his fall. He fell again and landed on the back of a giant metal flying machine with a long white body. Two enormous wings stretched from either side equipped with big round cylinders, which were the source of the high-pitched noise. D held on to the aircraft as it flew over the city. The plane descended slowly, aiming for a long stretch of road where a large cluster of buildings and towers stood and other aircrafts much like the one D was riding.

The aircraft touched down and the sudden lurch almost jerked D free from the vessel. The flying machine coasted to a stop in front of the larger of the two buildings and a weird looking device that stretched like an accordion stretched out and attached to the craft. Little cars buzzed around the giant craft. D watched from above all the while, guessing that it wasn't a place he'd want to be seen. The stretching thing retracted into the building and the air machine's loud engines roared to life again.

"This means we get off D! JUMP!" D's left hand shouted. D leapt off the aircraft just before it started rolling down the roadway, gathering the speed necessary for it to take flight. A man's voice shouted from one of the ground machines. "Hey! You with the funny costume!" D bolted at the sound of the voice though to the human eye it would have looked as if he had simply vanished.

* * *

Hours later, the sky grew dim as night enclosed the city in darkness. The setting sun lit the sky to the west with streaks of red, orange, and yellow. The clouds were tinted purple and the eastern sky was a deep royal blue. D stood atop the tallest building in the city and watched the timeless sunset. The building must have been one hundred stories at least – though of course, he had seen much taller in his world. In their centuries of prosperity the nobility built many buildings hundreds of times greater than the one on which he stood. They could range from 500 stories to an infinite amount. Their mastery of volume and space was incredible. He looked bellow at the streets, noticing that though the sun was rapidly sinking behind the horizon, the streets remained as busy and prosperous as ever. "D…where exactly are we?" the horse voice came from his left hand. "Heaven? No. Somehow this all seems vaguely familiar…we've been here before – or at least some place like this."

There was a distant look in the Hunter's eyes – a look of melancholy and remembrance as though he was recalling some distant memory of millennia's passed. Maybe it was the same one his hand was thinking of.

"Y-you can't mean we're…no! But that's not possible!" Left hand mumbled. "Definitely not possible. That-that doesn't even – I didn't know that those existed!"

"Neither did I." D said.

"What's the date then?" Left hand asked.

D jumped from the building, falling to the ground hundreds of feet bellow. He landed in an alley. Walls of buildings lined both sides, making the alley narrow and claustrophobic. A large bin filled with stinking trash stood beside a ramp that lead to a door where a steady beat pulsed and sounds of excited chatter could be heard from. A man in rags with a bottle in his hand looked up at the gorgeous man in black before him. "Hey...it aint' Halloween yet ya know." His drunken words were slurred almost to the point of incoherence. D looked down at the man and for a moment the full force of the Hunter's gray lifeless eyes bored into the drunk's; a ghastly aurora filled the small, narrow alley, suffocating the drunk with fear. The drunk shivered. "N-never mind dude. I was just f-foolin'. Uh….you got any cigarettes?"

"What's the date?" D asked the man, ignoring his question.

The man thought a moment.

"Fuck if I know." He slurred. "Sometime in…uh…December, yeah...fuckin' December, man."

"What year?" D asked.

"What the fuck man? 1998."

"Thank you for your help." D said. He started walking towards the crowded street ahead when the homeless man spoke again.

"Hey! Have you read the paper recently?" He asked.

"Paper?" D asked, not bothering to turn back to the man.

"Yeah. Those damn Soviet bastards are all a bunch o' fuckin' traitors! One day they be sayin' 'truce', the next they be giving nukes to Iran!"

D turned and looked at the man. Though his facial expression held no change in the least, in his eyes a flicker of unrecognizable emotion flared for a fraction of a second. "Nuclear weapons?" he asked.

"Yeah! Nukes! Those damn Iranians are gonna blow us to hell for that damn Shah business."

"Thank you." D muttered, turning from him.

* * *

Out on the streets, people stopped and stared at the man in black. He stood out from the crowd with his long black cloak, his wide brimmed hat, and the enormous sword on his back, not to mention his unearthly beauty. Everyone within a 10-foot radius of the Hunter stopped and stared regardless of gender. Prostitutes hanging around the entrance to hotels and nightclubs fought to be the first to tempt him. The only one who wasn't gapping at D was another grimy looking drunk standing outside a brightly lit pub. "Hey!" the man called. His words were slurred slightly and he swayed unsteadily, even with support from the side of the building he leaned on. "Hey you with the hat, you some kind of faggot or somethin'?" D kept walking, ignoring the man's remark.

* * *

_Well, I hope you're at least interested enough to move onto the next chapter! _

_peace. T_T_


	2. Trapped

_Chapter two!! Actually, I've already writen about seven...I've been working on this for a long long time but never had the guts to post. heehee! *nervous laughter*_

* * *

D woke to a dank, musty odder. He had been lying in the basement of a school house for three days and so far – to his relief – no one had discovered him yet. The basement was pitch black; though to the Hunter's half nocturnal eyes it was as light as day. There was a staircase that ran down from the door that led into the school which D laid underneath, his upper body resting against a stack of cardboard boxes. Across the room there was a massive furnace that was always on. From it, pipes ran into the school bringing heat with them. There was other various equipment in the basement including mops, brooms, buckets, more boxes and shelves filled with odd plastic bottles on which names of various chemicals were inscribed. D was contempt to lie underneath the stairs for weeks, years, or however long; there were no people, no noise, no vampires, no light. The one thing that kept him from waiting until the end of this world had passed was his desire to return to his world and the mission he had pledged himself long ago.

"What are you going to do?" His hand spoke for the first time in three days. "Sit here in this artificial hole in the earth until the world gets blown to bits? If you haven't noticed, this whole world is one giant time-bomb and it's going to go off soon."

D did not reply for at that moment, the door above him opened with an ominous creaking. Heavy, uncoordinated footsteps trumped down the steps. An unfamiliar tune was being whistled as a large, heavy-set man wearing a navy blue one-piece suit and hat waddled among the clutter. His back was turned to the Damphir as the man shoveled coals into the furnace. Taking this as an opportunity to flee, D stood and leapt up unto the stair noiselessly and without a glance at the janitor, he ran out the door.

* * *

A young girl of sixteen years lay under the safe covers of her bed with her pale lids closed. Long raven black hair swirled around her face as she slept. Her peaceful sleep didn't last for a firm knocking on her bedroom door woke the girl. The sound of her aunt's high-pitched voice reached her ears.

"Amy? Amy honey, are you awake?" Amelia groaned and rolled over onto her stomach, trying to catch another moment of sleep.

"Amy…" She called again after a moment's pause, impatience tainting her tone, "I'm not going to call you again. You'll miss your bus if you don't get that scrawny white butt of yours out of bed in 10!"

Amelia turned her head to the digital clock on her night stand. The electronic time-telling device proclaimed 6:45 in large red digits. With another groan, Amelia rolled herself slowly from underneath the covers and out of her bed.

She trudged her way across the room, out the door, and across a hallway to the bathroom, dragging her feet all the while. In the shower, the warm water woke her enough for her to function more like a normal being instead of an undead corpse. Back in her room she dressed in the daily school attire that she detested greatly; a red and blue plaid skirt that reached mid thigh and a white polo shirt. She fixed her waist-length brown hair into a bun, leaving strands of hair hanging in her face and applied eyeliner in thin black circles around the perimeter of her deep green eyes in front of a white wooden vanity; a birthday present handcrafted by her Uncle.

She dashed out of her room and down a long hallway with a white carpet and walls and down a flight of stairs which emptied into a spacious living room featuring a large sofa, easy chair, and wooden rocking chair directed towards a modest Television set. The floor was hardwood, though in the middle of the furniture set-up laid an old rug. A house plant occupied the left corner of the room, squeezed between the adjacent wall and a large bookshelf. Various loose papers, unfolded clothes straight from the laundry, and books were stacked messily on the chairs and strewn across the couch. The old rug was tattered and in need of much cleaning as was the TV, which was caked in a layer of dust. Passing the dirty living room, Amelia entered a room that doubled as a kitchen and dining room. Her adopted parents sat at a small circular table with three chairs at one end of the room. Another house plant stood alone and neglected in the far corner and numerous cardboard boxed lie stacked one atop the other against the wall. Some lay open on the floor, their contents half emptied while others remained sealed with clear packaging tape. White cloth lie along the floor against the walls on which was cans of red paint. The kitchen was kept reasonably neat compared to the disaster that was the living room. A black kettle on the stove whistled noisily.

"'Morning sleepy-head!" Amelia's aunt called cheerily as she rose to fetch the steaming water from the stove.

"Morning..." Amelia groaned. She went straight for the first cupboard to the right of the stove, grabbing a bag of bread.

"Don't you want some pancakes Amy?" her aunt asked. "There's enough batter left for two people."

Amelia shook her head slowly; still drowsy. "No…" she mumbled. "I'm not very hungry."

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" Her uncle quoted much to Amelia's annoyance.

"I'm sorry _Charlie_, but you are sorely mistaken. The most important meal of the day would be desert." She said while setting two pieces of bread into the toaster.

"True that." Her uncle, Charlie West, said in agreement.

"Oh Charles!" His wife scolded.

"Relax Magenta!" Mr. West scoffed, "I was simply agreeing with our beautiful little daughter over there."

"She's not so little anymore." Mrs. West reminded him, "Sixteen years old already and it seems like just yesterday she spoke her first word! What did she say again honey?"

"_No_." Mr. West answered with a laugh. "And she uses it today just as much as she did when she was a baby."

"Ahar har har," Amelia said, her joking tone tainted with sarcasm as she grabbed her bread which was now burnt toast. She grumbled in irritation at her burnt bread as she covered the black slices with butter and strawberry jam.

"Amelia! Time!" Mrs. West shrieked suddenly. Amelia jumped and whirled around to read the neon analog clock on the wall.

"DAMN!" She cried. "I'm gonna miss the bus!" She grabbed her toast, scarfing it down as she ran from the kitchen into the living room. She snatched a black bookbag adorned with pins displaying band names and humorous slogans. Reaching into the refrigerator in the kitchen, she grabbed a paper bag, cramming it into her pack.

"Don't forget your jacket!" Mrs. West called after her as she passed a coat rack by the front door.

* * *

_Okay, yeah...I sort of switch the point of views - this will happen alot. Please tell me if it gets too weird or confusing!_


	3. First Sight

_Chapter 3! I know its only been a day...but I'm bored, so here you are! I hope you all like it! _

* * *

D ran through the long hallways and corridors of the school; silent as a phantom, invisible with speed. The hallways were deserted – D didn't encounter a single soul but ran fast anyway to avoid any possible chance of being seen. It took him less than a second to escape the building, though out in the morning sunlight he felt exposed. He stood in an open field at the back of the school. The grass was marked by strange white lines and two odd forked poles stood at each end. The school was surrounded by neighborhoods; the houses all looked nearly the same with lush green lawns and fences surrounded each backyard – giving a false sense of security. D fled to the small grove of trees that stood on the school property where he planned to spend the remainder of the day light hours. From the grove D watched as a procession of long yellow vehicles approached the school.

The procession of yellow buses gathered in front of Kenwood Academy High School like a parade of jail cars to a prison camp. Thousands of students in uniforms filed out of the buses; all of them heading toward the school's large doors. Three teens stood out amongst the hundreds of clean cut, short haired boys in blue pants, white polo's and ties embroidered with the school emblem and the girls with their long hair, usually held in a pretty ponytail or braid and long plaid skirts. The one in the middle was of course Amelia. Her white skin stood out drastically from the normal tan. On the left was a boy of around 16 or 17. He had shaggy brown hair that was constantly in his face. It was longer than any of the other boys, floating just above his shoulders in a tangled mass. His bright blue eyes were large and dreamy and his face was handsome. The girl on the right had short blonde hair. She was pale but nowhere near Amelia's unnatural parlor. The two girls walked in perfect synchronization, laughing and giggling at their hands; which were clasped tightly together. The human traffic seemed to part wherever the trio walked. The students around the group gave them sneers and stares of some unjustified hatred, some of the boys went as far as to stick their foot out in an attempt to trip the longhaired boy.

In the halls the sounds of lockers slamming and chatter carried throughout the building. Amelia shoved a heavy-looking book bag into one of the hundreds of lockers on the campus. The blonde haired girl leaned against the locker next to the one that they shared.

"Mmmm…Mondays," The blonde haired girl said with heavy sarcasm, "My favorite."

"I eat Mondays for breakfast." Amelia said, closing the locker.

"Yummy…" The blonde haired girl trailed off in thought for a second. "So Amz, what are you doing Friday?"

"Going to school."

"I mean after smart-ass" Just as she said this, the school bell's loud electronic buzz rang out; declaring the start of school. The two best friends continued to talk as they walked with the tide of students.

"Oh I don't know." Amelia said, thinking. "I'll probably go home, do some homework, maybe I'll even watch a little trash TV if I'm in the mood. I think American Idol is on tonight…"

"Yuck." The blonde wrinkled her small nose. "Don't be a hermit Amz. You should come with Frank and I. We're going to hang out in the city, pick up some guys, maybe hit a show or something…" The two entered a classroom with numerous desks facing a chalk board. A man well into his fifties reclined in an office chair at the teacher's desk in the corner of the room opposite the door. Amelia and her friend took their seats in the very back corner of the classroom.

Amelia rolled her eyes. "Last time I came along you got so drunk that Frankie and I had to carry you home." She whispered. The second bell rang, announcing the start of class. The teacher; Mr. Barnes waddled to the front of the room and began the morning's lesson.

"Amy!" Her blonde friend whinned

"Mina!" Amelia mocked her tone.

"I'll stay clean the whole night if that means you'll come." Mina begged, though she spoke too loud for Mr. Barnes turned from his attention to the chalk board he scribbled on to the two girls.

"Minneapolis, what was the date of the Berlin airlift?" He quizzed her.

Mina flushed with humiliation at the mention her full name. "uh…1940-something?" She guessed.

The bear-bellied teacher glared at her. "May 11th, 1949." He corrected. "And I suggest that you pay attention."

"Why do you always get away with things?" Mina growled at Amelia.

* * *

The bell rang signaling the end of fourth hour and the beginning of second lunch. Amelia rose quickly from her desk, gathering her things in a hurry to escape Frau Holstein; a round, red haired woman closely resembling a toad. All through her Freshman and Sophomore years, Amelia had never seen the Frau in any colors other than greens and browns.

Fleeing third year German as fast as she could, Amelia ran straight into a rock hard chest, falling to the hard floor instantly, her books sprawling all around her in an unorganized mess. "Oh shit, sorry." A male voice said. A large hand extended out to Amelia. She took it gratefully before realizing who the hand belonged to.

On her feet, Amelia recognized the boy she had ran into. He was taller than Amelia but shorter than most guys at Kenwood with curly black hair and soft eyes. Though slender he had some slight muscle definition on his arms and underneath his white polo shirt. Amelia gapped. Her pale cheeks flushed slightly at the realization that she had just ran into the one boy at Kenwood, and the whole world for that matter, that she had ever cared for. She had hardly ever spoken to him, being too shy, but had loved him ever since she met him in the sixth grade at Prairie Junior High. She had followed him home every day for two years and had his class schedule memorized. "Oliver!" She gasped. "I-I'm so sorry! Holy shit!" She hurriedly bent down to gather her books and papers together, which were now strewn all across the hall. Oliver chuckled quietly as he watched her.

"It's all good." He said. He handed her a small stack of her books he had picked up. "Here."

Amelia took them quietly and, blushing all the while, ran away from him in embarrassment.

* * *

"Wow. You're late." Mina remarked as Amelia ran to meet her and Frank in the grassy field outside the school.

"Sorry. I ran into…someone." Amelia said, sitting beside Frank. She pulled a sandwich out of a brown paper sack and bit into it ravenously. "I'm starved." She said through another large bite of peanut butter and jelly.

"Looks like it." Frank observed. "You want my food? I'm not hungry."

"No. You need it more than I do Frankie."

"So did Mina tell you about Friday?" Frank asked, momentarily forgetting about the food ordeal.

"_Yes_," Mina answered for Amelia, "she thinks it would be more fun to be a hermit and watch trash TV than go into the city with her two best friends! Can you believe it Frankie?!"

"What?!" Frank said, snapping his fingers in a 'Z' formation. "Uhuh girlfriend! You be goin' down town with yo' homes or I'll beat yo ass!"

"Yes!" Mina said, "Amelia you _have_ _to_ come! Don't be such a spoil sport."

Amelia sighed in defeat. "Alright. Since you used my full name and Frank talked like a black woman I guess I have no choice."

"Hey, what's that over there?" Frank said, his finger pointing out at the stand of trees across the soccer field.

"What?" Amelia and Mina asked in unison.

"In the trees across the field," Frank said. "I thought I saw something. It looked like some dude."

Mina made a sound like a ghost –

"_Ooooh_," she said. "Maybe it's a creeper watching us, just waiting for the opportune moment to come out and rape us helpless little juniors."

"Dude, seriously though." Frank said in defense. "He had this huge ass hat and was wearing all black. He looked like a ninja or samurai or something..."

* * *

D stood at the edge of the tree grove. It was noon, and the sun shone directly above the school grounds and no shadows were cast by the trees. He looked out across the field with the strange markings at a trio of students lying on the grass eating and talking. They were all dressed in matching attire; the two girls wore mid-thigh length plaid skirts and white polo's and the boy wore a matching white shirt and blue pants. The girl on the far left captured his interest. He could tell despite the distance that she possessed an extraordinary beauty with her long black hair and pale skin, paler than any human's he'd ever seen. Her facial features were angular and well defined. At first, D almost mistook her for a day-walking Noble.

"Could it be true?" D's hand wondered incredulously. "Your kind here, in _this_ place?"

"She doesn't even know." D muttered.

"How can you tell?"

"She still eats human food, talks among them, walks among them. She is young. Her human side is the more dominate side and it will remain so until she reaches full maturity. I say she must not know because if she knew, how could she stand to live amongst the very souls she will eventually turn against?" Being a man of very few words, this was a lengthy speech for the young Hunter. Though his white face was like a cold mask – devoid of any expression – his eyes held the sorrow and pain only the grief of many lifetimes could bring.

* * *

The buzz of the bell filled the silent school again. Students poised on the edges of their seats, ready to fly out the classroom door as soon as the bell gave them leave made their escape. Amelia and Mina shoved through the crowds of students to get to the locker they shared, and then again to get out the door.

"See you tomorrow Amz!" Mina called out, disappearing into the crowd headed towards the student parking lot.

_Stupid people with cars…_ Amelia thought with envy as she trudged toward the line of buses awaiting their cargo of students. Trying to get around a couple making out in front of the bus door, a black form caught her eye. Under the shade of the tall oak tree in the front of the school grounds stood a tall man with a large, wide-brimmed hat. He looked like he belonged in some weird era from the past, or from a science fiction novel. Like the rest of his unusual attire, the hat was black. His dark clothing contrasted sharply with his white skin. He was beautiful; seeming more dream-like than real. Amelia forgot all about boarding the bus. Standing with her foot resting on the bottom step and one hand on the rail, she stared at the strange man, all previous thoughts lost in a cloudy whirl.

The loud, booming voice of the bus driver brought Amelia back from her trance. "Honey, are you going to ride the bus or not?"

"Huh? Oh!" Amelia gasped, frantically rushing onto the bus, "Sorry Nancy!" The line of students that had accumulated by her stopping rushed on board behind her. The bus's diesel engine roared to life and the bus driver, Nancy, pulled a leaver on her side, snapping the double doors shut. Amelia peered out the window by her seat in the direction she glimpsed the strange man in black but he appeared to have vanished.

* * *

_Okay...I know. D seems like a TOTAL creeper in this chapter, but he's not that creepy! There are motives behind his creeperness hahaha! Then again, Amelia's quite the creep too. They're made for eachother!!! =D_


	4. Damphir

_Out of all the chapters I've writen so far, I think this one is my favorite (I like creepiness hahaha). Please review an enjoy! _

* * *

D wondered long streets lined by comfortable suburban houses by the light of the street lamps that occurred once every twenty feet. He often questioned their use. He'd been wondering around the many neighborhoods in the area since the sun had sunk below the horizon and hadn't encountered a soul on the street or lush green lawns. Despite this, even if one had decided to go out late they would have had plenty of their own light with their portable lamps and the lights fixed to the front of every vehicle, there was simply no need for the numerous light posts that served no purpose other than to light up the night sky to the point where the very stars were hidden from view. This depressed the Hunter. There was no place in this urban sprawl without a light; nothing natural grew other than the common green grass present in every yard and the occasional flower garden. There was nothing familiar to him here; no forests, wild life, or even evils such as vampires and mutant beasts – even the stars seemed to have abandoned D in this strange world.

It must have been around one thirty in the morning when D had rounded yet another block and passed what must have been the 300th streetlamp and the 700th house when a white figure crossed the lawn of a blue one-story house that lie on the street corner adjacent to the Hunter. D immediately recognized the long black hair and pale skin of the adolescent girl.

"It's her!" The horse voice of D's talking appendage exclaimed aloud. "What on Earth could she be doing?"

"I have a hunch." D muttered, following the graceful white figure through the yards of sleeping homes.

D must have followed her for an hour or so. They had long since left the neighborhoods and had reached a small park of sorts. The city surrounded the triangular park on all sides. Grocery stores, office buildings, and small businesses encircled the spacious grassy field. Groves of trees stood here and there. There was even a fountain in the very center surrounded by a paved walkway and benches. It was on one of these benches that D found the Damphir girl. She seemed to be in a trance of sort – pulled by a force unknown to the Hunter. She sat ramrod straight with her slender, graceful back facing him. She wore a shear white tank top and blue baggy shorts with bubbles and yellow rectangles with facial features wearing pants and the words 'Sponge Bob' written in orange font.

D approached the girl slowly. He was within ten feet of her when she stood up suddenly. A moment of stillness passed. The girl stood stiff and ridged, still as death. The wind seemed to slow and all time seemed to stand still, awaiting the Damphir's next move. She took a step forward, then another, moving past D. D moved after her silent as a phantom. Wondering seemingly aimlessly through empty streets, the white-skinned girl halted at the entrance to an alley lying between two warehouses. Turning 90 degrees to the left, she entered the ally. D stood at the entrance and watched.

There was another person in the alley; he stood stock still in the center of the alley – not seeming to be embarrassed by the fact that he wore nothing but a t-shirt and boxer shorts; his fleshy face was expressionless as the half-human approached him. He was hypnotized – a power that only vampires could have. She pulled the collar of his white t-shirt down to expose his collar bone and the base of his throat…

A solid force collided with the pair – the man flew off to the left; his body slamming against the wall, where it slid down to rest at the ground almost comically. The girl and the black, solid force, D, flew another 10 feet down the alley before landing on the asphalt one atop the other. D rose quickly from the girl, who now lay unconscious and checked the man who lay several feet behind the two Damphirs.

"He's still hypnotized." A hoarse voice rose from D's left hand as it passed over the unconscious man's face. It's tone changed to one of curiosity. "Strange…" it muttered. "I never knew a Damphir was capable of having any kind of subconscious control over it's victim…this is interesting. D, did you ever – MMF!" D had squeezed his hand. Blood ran in steady streams from his tight fist.

* * *

Amelia opened her eyes to a strange place. A gray sky stretched above her. It was barely visible through the tall trees, which stretched up to the heavens as if trying frantically to block out the sun. A hoarse voice spoke from nowhere in particular;

"She's awake!" it rasped.

Footsteps approached her. She heard the fallen leaves crunch under the ordinarily silent feet. A black shadow loomed over her.

"Stay away from me!" Amelia shrieked, scrambling to her feet in a millisecond, but in the next millisecond her legs trembled and gave away from beneath her and she fell back to the forest floor. Crawling frantically away from the advancing black form amongst the underbrush, a different voice spoke – a softer, deeper voice more beautiful and cold than any other she had ever heard.

"I know why you're weak." It said, "I know why you look different from everyone else…I know why you feel unbearably thirsty."

Amelia froze. A shaky hand rose to her dry throat – she was very thirsty. Slowly she turned to face the beautiful archangel in black before her. The light that filtered down through the forest canopy illuminated his black-shroud form making him look like a beautiful Grim Reaper.

"W-who are you?" Amelia stuttered, staring at the gorgeous man in black. He was unusually pale – like her – with long ink black hair and eyes so dark and lifeless that she felt as if her soul would become trapped inside them if she stared into them too long. Their intensity left her in a trance.

"I'm D." The young man said, "The Hunter."

"H-hunter of what?" Amelia asked.

The self-proclaimed Hunter responded with silence.

"Wait!" Amelia called after the man named D's retreating black form. "What did you do to me? How do you know me? Where am I? Answer me!"

"I saw you sleepwalking and followed you into the city where I saved you and another from your uncontrollable desires. That's all." The emotionless words stung Amelia like a whip.

"What _desires_?! Who in the fucking hell are you and for Pete's sake, take me home-"

The sound of a school bell interrupted Amelia. Both of the Damphir's heads turned towards the sound.

"Good God, I've been out all night!" Amelia panicked. "Take me home _now!_ My aunt and uncle are very worried and…I…I'm tardy! Don't you come near me!"

D did absolutely nothing. His eyes were devoid of any emotion whatsoever as he listened to the girl's demands. After five minutes of offers of money and pleads, the girl moved on to another tactic and began to scream;

"_Speak,_ Goddamnit! what the fuck are you thinking?"

In response to this, the Hunter turned and walked deeper into the forest depths.

"Come." He said icily. "I'll lead you to the road."

Minutes later, the girl dressed in pajamas and the dark, handsome man in black stood at the forest edge. Before them lie a heavy-looking concrete barrier that stretched along side a never-ending ribbon of road on which vehicles zoomed past the two beings at high speeds. Across this concrete barricade lie the backs of houses and, not too far away lay the school.

"The _freeway_?" Amelia asked, exasperated. "How the fuck did I _sleepwalk_ all the way out of town?!"

"You didn't." D replied quietly, scanning the freeway traffic for an opening to dart across.

"What do you mean by that?" Amelia turned to him. "Okay, just tell me the truth. _What_ _happened_?"

What happened next took place in less than a second. D had spotted a slight opening in the traffic that would have allowed two seconds to dart across the four lane road. Grabbing Amelia's arm violently, D hauled the sixteen year old girl onto his broad back and leapt over the barricade and the first lane, instantly breaking into a run as soon as his cat-like feet touched the pavement. Of course, none of the drivers noticed anything but a streak of black as sudden and instantaneous as a flash of lightning. D was on the other side of the freeway, walking towards civilization while Amelia stared after him with wide, amazed eyes by the road side.

* * *

Mrs. West opened the door after rushing down to the main floor from the bedroom, where her and her husband had sat anxiously by the telephone; awaiting a call or news of their niece's whereabouts. To her great surprise, Amelia stood on the threshold, dressed in her night clothes, completely unharmed.

"Oh! Amy!" The rounded, motherly-looking woman cried, throwing her arms around her skinny niece. "Where on earth were you? Your uncle and I were so worried, I – oh my!"

She had just caught sight of the tall handsome man dressed in black that stood behind Amelia; this was none other than D. He had, for some unknown reason, shown some spark of kindness or sympathy and walked her home. Mrs. West released her and stepped over to the side to get a better view of the pale, beautiful man.

"Who is this honey?" She asked after regaining her composure. She crossed her arms in a strict, parental manor.

"This is D, Auntie." Amelia said, gesturing to D with a white hand. "I-I guess I was sleepwalking again and this time I got outside before you could catch me. I'm surprised I didn't wake anyone…I didn't know that I was that quiet…anyway, D found me way over in the city! He saved me and brought me somewhere safe where I slept until morning. If he hadn't walked by in time I don't know what would have happened to me."

"Oh Amy! I'm so glad that you're safe! We should've kept our door open last night! We've been forgetting these past few weeks. Your condition has been quite calm lately. Oh! And thank you so much for watching after our little niece! I am Magenta West. My husband Charlie is at work now, but if you come back later he'd be happy to meet you! Um…what was your name again, hon?"

"D."

"D-e-e?"

"D, like the letter."

"Oh. Sorry. You must get that a lot." Mrs. West apologized. "D…that's a different name. Does it stand for something?"

The Hunter in black did not reply to this. Instead, he put a pale hand to his hat and turned his back to the women and the house, walking away down the center of the street, his black midnight cape swirling around his form with the gentle breeze.

"What a strange young man." Mrs. West muttered, watching D's retreating figure. "He seems familiar though...is he a friend from school Amy?"

"No. He's not." Amelia said, her voice matching the vacant expression on her face. "Though I feel like I've seen him somewhere before too…"

* * *

"So, you mean to say that the girl holds no interest to you?" D's parasitic appendage asked. "She could be family or maybe you've found your sole mate! As long as we're stuck here we might as well find something useful or at least entertaining and this, my friend is perfect!"

Despite his hand's compelling argument, D seemed to hold no interest in helping the poor, young Damphir girl, and if he did, he didn't show it for no emotion could be gleamed from the beautiful mask that was his face.

"Oh, come on D!" his left hand persisted. "She has no idea what she is. She still thinks she's _human_!"

"She'll figure it out for herself." D replied.

"She's _changing_ in case you haven't noticed. Her vampire side is becoming more and more dominate. Did you hear her mother? That wasn't the first time she's been out at night and it certainly won't be her last. She's at the Metamorphic Stage – the human and vampiric sides of her are both at their prime. It doesn't look like she's very far into the Metamorphic Stage _yet_ but it doesn't take long. It certainly didn't for y – "

The hoarse voice was cut short with a yelp of pain as D squeezed his fist tight. A thread thin stream of blood dripped from D's clenched hand.

"It isn't my place." D muttered. "I'm sure her foster parents are aware. They should know how to handle her."

"If they do, I don't think the news would be as effectively conveyed. Besides they're probably not as…experienced in the world of the vampire as you."

"It's not my place."

The argument dyed with D's cold remark. The Hunter had no concern or desire to help the girl. It wasn't anything personal; it was simply because the girl and her problems had no bearing on him. Solving her problems for her would only hinder him in his quest to return to his time.

"You're a cold son-of-a-bitch aren't you?" His left hand said.

"She would get in the way." D replied icily. His voice was cold enough to freeze the very soul of even the bravest men. "We don't belong here. I was never meant to help her and we have to get back."

"And how do you suppose we do that?" His left hand replied, "You can't just go out and buy a time machine now days…well, you couldn't even do that back home could you? The Nobility are the only ones who have the possession and skill to maintain machines like that – hey, now there's an idea!"

"We'll have to find a noble." D voiced his hand's thoughts with a tone that froze the very air.

"Exactly."

* * *

_So...D is now on a quest! I didnt know what to call the transition Amelia's going through. I was going to call it puberty but that would be weird so for lack of a better term, I used metamorphasis. Plus, it sounds cool. Amy's a butterfly! =D_


	5. A Sense of Purpose

_This chapter's alot shorter than the rest. I had orignially combined chapters 5 and 6 but I think they're better separate. I just discovered the magical horizontal line ruler thing! Its so cool! I want to go back to my other chapters and put it in EVERYWHERE! _

* * *

"Amelia, are you sure you're feeling okay?" Mrs. West asked, concern colored her face as she studied Amelia from across the dining table. "You haven't eaten at all today."

"I'm not very hungry." Amelia muttered, pushing her empty plate aside. "Food tastes weird lately."

"I'd like you to eat a little bit of something anyways hon." Mrs. West said. "You might be coming down with something."

Amelia shrugged. She took a small spoonful of white rice from a bowl and began to eat it slowly.

"Did you take your meds?" Mr. West asked Amelia when she had finished.

"No, I forgot." Amelia grabbed a bottle from the counter in the kitchen containing red pills. Opening the bottle, Amelia shook two of the deep red capsules into her white hand. These were actually dissolvable capsules filled with blood, developed by Magenta West herself when she worked as a nurse at the hospital so that Amelia's urge to drink human blood would be suppressed until her vampire side matured and her want for human food vanished. Like any loving foster parent would, she had kept Amelia unaware of this so Amelia could have a 'normal human childhood'. Swallowing the pills with water, Amelia said goodnight to her guardians and went to her bedroom on the second floor.

Going to the blue and silver Boom Box on the white wooden vanity adjacent to her bed, Amelia selected one of the many CDs stacked beside the player. Taking the disc out of the case with care, she opened the top of the Boom Box and set the CD in place. She closed the top and pressed the play button. Humming along with the mournful sounds of Morrissey from the Smiths, she went to her bed. Lying down atop the covers on her back, she closed her eyes in an almost meditative fashion.

It was dark outside her window and the CD's last track had ended. Amelia lay in the silence, unmoving. If one saw her still form now, they'd wonder if she was even breathing. Suddenly, Amelia's green eyes flew open. She drew in a short, sudden breath and, grabbing her stomach, rolled over onto her side. Groaning, she stood up slowly, supporting herself with the bed post, and ran across the hall to the bathroom where she threw up remnants of the white rice in the toilet. Flushing it, she looked up at the mirror. She looked starved and sleepless. Deep, dark circles ran under her eyes and her face looked shallow as if she hadn't eaten in days. This, along with her usual parlor made her face look like that of a corpse.

_What's happening to me? _She thought desperately. "I need to find D."

The next day, Amelia and Mina stood at the locker they shared. Amelia was busy shoving her black book bag into the locker while Mina leaned against the locker next to her.

"Christ Amy, you look tired." Mina said, noticing the circles under Amelia's eyes. "You look thinner too. Do you have any eating disorders we need to discus?"

"I don't know Mina." Amelia said; her voice apathetic. She slammed the locker door shut. "I just had a really weird day yesterday."

"Um, yeah. I could tell." Mina said, crossing her arms in disapproval. "You weren't at school. Why is that?"

"I – well, there was this guy and…ugh! It's a long story." Amelia said. She leaned her head against the locker door and sighed with exhaustion. "I'll tell you and Frank about it at lunch."

"Why? Dude, playing hooky is totally chill. Just tell me before you skip though. He knocked you up didn't he? You just left out the dirty details didn't you?"

"Mina, I wasn't playing hooky, and no, there was no sex involved. I had a totally legit reason for skipping yesterday so just piss off and go fondle your boyfriend or something."

Mina rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "You know, I don't know why I even bother trying to reason with you anymore." And without a glance in Amelia's direction, Mina quickened her pace, leaving Amelia to walk the rest of the way to class alone.

The bell rang – announcing the end of 4th period. Amelia and Frank met outside of the rectangular brick building that was the cafeteria. While walking across the campus to the field at the back of the main building, they had a conversation:

"So, why weren't you at school yesterday?" Frank asked Amelia after they exchanged greetings.

"I was going to tell you and Mina during lunch but it looks like she's not joining us." Amelia growled, looking across the cement walkway at a large group of giggling girls in uniform of which Mina was a part of.

"What's with her today?" Frank asked. "She didn't speak to you in Algebra."

"Who knows?" Amelia grumbled. The pair had reached their usual spot under the shade of the old maple tree behind the school. The two friends sat beneath the tree. "She's just mad because I didn't tell her that I was skipping or why I skipped right away and I told her to piss off and go screw her boyfriend. She'll get over it."

"So, since she's not coming, why weren't you here yesterday?"

Amelia took a deep breath before speaking. "I had a really fucking weird day…" She began. "I woke up in the middle of the woods over on the other side of the freeway yesterday morning and there was this strange man. He was wearing weird clothes – all black – and was really pale…he was as white as me actually. He said that I was sleepwalking and something about me and uncontrollable desires and that he saved me from hurting someone…he said his name was D. I was suspicious at first but I don't think he did anything creepy to me. He took me home right after that and then he just sort of left…" Amelia stopped talking and looked over at Frank to see his reaction. Sure enough, his eyes were opened so wide, she thought they'd pop out of his head.

"Wow." Frank said, after composing himself. "That's…um…really weird. How can you be so sure that he didn't hurt you or anything? Did you get tested? Cause if you didn't you should. That guy sounds psycho Amy. Did he explain anything?"

"Not really." Amelia said slowly, digging through memories of the day before. "He didn't say much at all. It was really frustrating actually. It was almost scary. He was so…_emotionless_. He almost didn't seem human and yet…"

"And yet what?"

"I felt like I could trust him." Amelia said. "I asked him to take me home and he did. He never touched me, never did anything to me…and he was so gorgeous! I've never seen anyone so amazing."

"Well it looks like someone has the hotts for creeper status." Frank remarked.

"He's _not_ a creeper Frank. I could tell that much." Amelia replied coldly. "That wasn't all that was weird though…"

"What's the rest?"

"I _feel_ different…"

"See?!" Frank exclaimed. "I _knew _it! I just knew that he knocked you up!"

"_Frank_!" Amelia screamed. "He did not fucking knock me up goddammit! Just listen!"

Her outburst met no reply from Frank so Amelia continued with her story. "I haven't felt hungry lately…well I _have_ but it's a different kind of hunger almost. Food tastes different – all kinds of food. It all tastes like dirt. All of it. The problem is I have no idea what I'm supposed to eat. I tried to eat last night and I threw up."

"Maybe you're anorexic or something." Frank suggested.

"Maybe. I doubt it though." Amelia said. "Eating disorders are normally mental though. And this is definitely physical. I don't know why, but for some reason I think this D guy would know."

"Amelia, really. If you think that you have to go see this dude then I'm coming with you." Frank said. "I don't like the sound of this guy. None of this makes sense to me."

"Me neither." Amelia muttered, "But I have to find out what's going on…no matter what."

The ringing of the bell halted their discussion. Amelia stood, holding her untouched tray of food. "I don't know why I even bothered to buy lunch." She said, wrinkling her nose at the uneaten slice of pizza and apple before her.

"I don't know man but you really should eat." Frank said. He was truly concerned for her. "See you later."

"Yeah, later Frank." The two parted and began to walk their separate ways when Frank turned and called after her –

"Hey, you still on for Friday night?"

"Definitely. I could use a night out." Amelia replied, giving him a wink before departing.

* * *

_This chapter's alot shorter than the rest...I just noticed that. Chapter 6 was originally the second part of this chapter but it's long enough to be a chapter by it's self, so now we have a mini-chapter. I love the Smiths so much! Amelia seems like the kind of person who would like them too...I originally had the cd be a Smash Mouth cd but figured that Smash Mouth would be a little to peppy for that scene. Amelia's changing! Her bloodlust is becoming stronger and stronger! Will she convince D to help her? Please review!_


	6. Only One

_Mina is a reflection of a friend of mine, just like Amelia is a reflection of myself...well, certain parts of me. Reading this chapter, you will all discover that Mina is a screwed up kid. I was very angry when I wrote the first bit of this chapter. My best friend had just gotten into drugs and hooked up with a sketchy boyfriend and never seemed to care about anything else, so naturally, I felt very angry and betrayed. Now, she is even more into drugs and parties and though we're still good friends, I am still very mad at her. In a way, I can sort of project my emotions through Amelia to express what I can't say to people that I care about. Its kind of weird and I dont know if any of y'all understand, but this chapter really helped me through alot. It's probably my favorite, and deffinately the most meaningful....wow. that was personal. sorry! haha_

Amelia stood in front of her bedroom mirror in nothing but her underwear. Scattered around her on the floor were a number of rejected pants, skirts and a variety of shirts. She went for her closet to perform another thorough search of her clothes when the large, blocky satellite phone on her dresser rang obnoxiously, moving for the edge of the structure and finally falling off it altogether. Amelia dashed across the room and held out her hand; retrieving the phone before it even became fully free of the shelf. Her reaction time and response took less than a half a second. Had anyone else witnessed the inhuman speed she required to execute the performance would have made her well aware of her uncanny action but to her, her action was performed at a normal human speed and there was nothing special about it. Her natural inhuman reflexes had started to become apparent the following month. She would often catch things that fell several feet away or react to things before anyone else. People often asked her about it or gave her weird stares, but she never took any notice.

"Hello?" Amelia held the black phone up to her ear. "Oh, hi Frank!....yes I'm coming tonight…as a matter of fact I was just figuring out what to wear when you called – what?...oh _come off it_! I'm a woman aren't I?...Is Mina coming?...oh…well, that'll be okay I guess…no, no its fine, really…mk' see you soon…bye." She shut the phone and placed it back on the wooden dresser, then hesitated and grabbed it again, stuffing it in her bag.

It was 8:30 PM. Amelia had decided on a pair of jeans and a green and black striped shirt with buttons halfway down the front. Her white hand was on the door handle. She was about to leave when she paused and turned around – staring at her pallid reflection in the mirror. Her bright eyes appeared dimmed and lined with heavy dark circles from lack of food and sleep. That, along with her pale skin made her look like a walking corpse. With a dissatisfied sigh, she turned her back to her reflection and left the room. Downstairs, she encountered her aunt and uncle at the kitchen table.

"I'll be back late." She said.

"Not too late I hope." Her uncle said in a warning tone.

"Amy, you make me worry when you're out late like this. Please be safe. Bring your cell phone and never get into cars with strangers, be safe…" Her aunt would've gone on, on a long tangent if her uncle hadn't quieted her.

"Midnight's the curfew." He said, stopping any further argument.

"Thanks Charlie." Amelia said, winking at her uncle. She held out her palm expectantly and he dropped the family car keys in her hand. "I'll be safe, Auntie. I promise. And I have my phone." She took her cell phone out of her brown handbag as evidence. "Bye!" she called, grabbing a black zip-up sweatshirt and shutting the front door behind her.

* * *

Amelia met Frank in the driveway of the small red house he lived in, which was just a couple miles from her own. Amelia reached across the seat to unlock the passenger door.

"Howdy there!" Frank greeted her as he slid into his seat and buckled himself in place.

The two exchanged greetings and a few comments on the night's plans as Amelia drove them to a large stately house complete with a brick wall surrounding its perimeter and an iron gate. Mina leaned in front of the gate's black metal bars. Her short blonde hair was worked into two small pigtails. The denim skirt she wore was way too short with high-heeled black vinyl boots that reached her knees and the low-cut gray knit sweater that showed her white cleavage. Mina slid into the back seat of the car without a word and a quick glare in Amelia's direction. The drive to the city was silent from then on; except for Frank's attempts to strike up a conversation between the two girls, which only ended in an increasingly awkward silence.

A Friday night trip to the city presented a problem for the three friends. It was virtually impossible to find parking anywhere. After driving for what seemed like hours at crawling speeds under 15 miles per hour, Amelia finally found a parking space along the side of the street in front of an adult film store that had long since gone out of business. The large red light-up sign that hung above the entrance was hanging by only one end. It squeaked and creaked as it swung from side to side in the slight breeze. The shop's windows were boarded up with dirty two-by-fours; blocking the erotic merchandise available for young adults 18 and over with ID from view. Amelia cut the engine and the three minors stepped out of the red station wagon that she could never hope to own.

"So, what's on the Agenda for tonight?" Frank asked Amelia as they walked towards the brighter buildings and larger crowds of pedestrians. Mina walked behind them sulkily.

"I don't know…" Amelia thought, "I wonder who's playing at the 3116 tonight…what do you think Mina?"

"I don't care as long as I can have a beer and a date." Mina grumbled. Amelia sighed.

"It'll make her happy." Frank whispered in Amelia's ear, "irritating as fuck, but happy."

Amelia chuckled quietly.

It didn't take long to reach the 3116. A pair of large bouncers stood in front of the club's doors, checking the late night partiers for ID. It was an all age club and alcohol wasn't served there but those with a membership were directed to the left and those without one to the right to pay – which is where Frank, Amelia, and Mina were escorted. Inside the noisy club – which nothing more than the basement of a large building – the air was hazy with smoke, matching the smog that filled the city outside and the blaring of the whiney punk band on the makeshift stage made Amelia unable to hear. Her and Frank soon lost Mina to the overwhelming pull of the bar and the promise of alcohol and an easy date. Amelia and Frank stayed at the show. They pushed their way through the throng of young bodies into the middle of the mosh pit.

Inside the pit, Amelia gave herself away to the chaos. She let herself be thrashed about; knocking against body after body, be picked up by a group behind her and be hoisted up above the crowd and moved toward the stage. Up above the crowd, she caught the eye of the signer. She looked at him and he looked back for a good 10 seconds. Then, extending her white arm out, the tips of their fingers touched. Suddenly she was dropped back to the floor and the signer resumed jumping and thrashing around on stage. Amelia screamed along with the lyrics. It seemed like the noise and throng would carry on forever, but after three, the signer said 'goodnight' and the band departed. The Tec crew came out to disassemble their set to prepare for the next band. Amelia pushed through the remaining moshers to follow the leaving crowd.

In the bar, Amelia bought an orange soda. Sipping on her sugary drink silently, she watched from her seat at the end of the counter – away from the drunken adults and teens. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, watching Mina laughing and giggling with an empty bottle in her hand while a tall, muscular boy that had to be collage age felt up her mini skirt. She knew that she should have kept a closer eye on Mina. She should have stopped her from going into the bar. She probably mooched the beer off the older boy and his friends, who, she noticed had a small blue cooler. Even though she honestly cared for Mina in her heart of hearts, Amelia didn't want to deal with Mina's recklessness and couldn't have cared less about what she got herself into that night. _Let Frank worry about her._ She thought icily, turning her head from her best friend and her toy. Amelia proceeded to sip her drink quietly until she noticed the crowds drifting back towards the stage for the next band. Downing the rest, Amelia joined the throng.

The new band was more hardcore than the spunky pop-punk band that played previously. There was much more screaming and yelling than singing and the signer screamed lyrics about revenge and angst and downing the government and Amelia danced and moshed just as hard as she had before. After the second band, Frank and Amelia found each other amongst the thinning crowd that stayed by the stage to watch the next band set up.

"Those guys were great." Frank said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Yeah. Way better then the first band." Amelia agreed with him. "I thought that the singer was a bit of an asshole though, telling everyone to fuck off and all. It's so stupid when they do that."

"Ahh, they're just in the zone. It's all cool."

"Oh, of course. The zone. Right." Amelia and Frank continued to razz each other as they made their way into the bar again, this time for water. Mina and her date were nowhere to be found.

"Oh shit. Where did she go?" Amelia grumbled, pushing her way through crowds, checking around corners, by the restrooms, in front of the building. She couldn't think of anywhere else two people could find a deserted enough space to make-out. It was out the back door where she found the drunk and happy pair making out in the stairwell. Mina giggled and nipped at the boy's ear playfully as he felt up her shirt. Amelia cleared her throat loudly. This stopped the two's PDA immediately. The collage kid and Mina instantly whipped their heads around in Amelia's direction.

"Amelia!" Mina sighed as the two disengaged.

"I've been looking all over for you." Amelia said. Her arms were crossed and she held a disapproving scowl on her red lips.

"I'm sowy Amy!" Mina slurred. She was still very drunk. "I won't do it again. I promise!"

"Uh-huh. I'm sure you won't." Amelia said. "Now come inside with your new boyfriend, okay?"

"But it's pretty out here!"

"Mina…"

Mina stared at Amelia for a long moment; her full bottom lip puckering out like a pouty two year old's. "Okay…c'mon Kenny. Amy's being a party pooper." Her date chuckled and nuzzled her cheek.

"Hey babe, what're you be'in such a tight ass for?"

"I just want to make sure that she doesn't get pregnant tonight." Amelia said frostily. She turned on her heal and strode back into the club.

* * *

It was near midnight and the last band was packing up. Amelia waited at the entrance as Frank emerged from the doors with Mina supported by his side and her arm around his shoulder. Upon seeing her two best friends, Amelia felt a sudden urge to explore the night alone. Mina squirmed and Frank dropped her arm from his shoulder. Mina doubled over in the corner by the entrance and groaned.

"Do you want to throw up here or in the car, Mina?" Amelia asked, sounding tired and bored.

"Both…" Mina moaned, clutching her stomach.

"Does this happen often?" Frank asked worriedly.

"Yeah. She'll be fine." Amelia said. "Um…Frank, do you mind if I leave you and Mina? I kind of want to walk around alone for a bit."

"Uh…sure. Mina wants to see a movie for some reason so we're going to that one theater near here. Uh…meet us there I guess."

"Okay. I'll meet you there in a couple hours."

Amelia left the 3116. She walked aimlessly through the city passing clubs, bars, adult theaters and casinos; all lit up with their bright neon-lights to welcome the city's nighttime inhabitants. It must have been near twelve thirty when Amelia found herself in the business section of downtown Chicago. She had forgotten about meeting her friends at the theater, and about her curfew. Giant skyscrapers towered above the heads of all the lesser buildings; most of which were deserted except for the tall, extravagant hotels and casinos where people milled around the entrance, smoking and chatting. Amelia desired a place with less people – no people if that were possible. She wondered deeper and deeper into the city. She was trying to get lost on purpose. She finally succeeded in getting lost when she found herself passing warehouse by warehouse. She had unknowingly wondered close to the shores of the sprawling Lake Michigan where most of the city's goods were imported and exported. She was passing by the gate of an immense factory when she heard soft footsteps behind her. It was unnatural that she even heard the quiet, careful steps approaching her 100 feet back, but due to her advanced hearing that went beyond any human's she could hear the tentative steps clearly. Looking quickly over her shoulder, she glimpsed two men walking down the sidewalk towards her attractive figure. She could tell that they were whispering to each other and by their frequent glances in her direction she could tell that they weren't merely passing by.

Amelia felt oddly calm. She turned her back to the advancing men and continued walking, heading towards the bright, populated section of the downtown area. She glanced over her shoulder and noticed that the men had gained ground and were now 10 feet behind her. They called and whistled at her obnoxiously. After a couple minutes of this, the whistles and calls had stopped and she could only hear one pair of footsteps. Glancing over her should again; she saw only one of the men smiling wickedly at her. Her heart pulsed faster and she quickened her pace. She rounded corner after corner, trying to lose the man but after every alley and turn he was always there, just ten feet behind her. She could see neon lights and pedestrians ahead at the next intersection. She rounded another corner, figuring it would lead to a short cut. On the other side of the large abandoned brick building she ran into a large chest.

"Oof!" She exclaimed. The chest was hard as rock and very wide like a football players or a serious weightlifter. She backed up slowly. Her heart beat franticly against her ribcage and all moisture had left her mouth. In front of her stood the missing man from earlier. He was dressed casually in a plaid flannel shirt and dirty white undershirt and jeans. His face was scruffy like he hadn't shaved in a couple days and his eyes were bright and excited. A pair of cold hands grabbed her waist from behind. Amelia screamed and spun around to see the second man. He was taller and not as broad as the first but was dressed in similar casual attire. They appeared to be construction workers or possibly worked in a factory.

"Hello missy." The man that held her waist purred.

Amelia took a step back, smacking his large hands away, but by backing up she only ran into the first man. She was trapped. The two men conversed while she franticly searched for an escape.

"Hey Bill, how'd you get around so fast?" the taller man asked.

"I took a shortcut." The burly one, Bill, replied. "Looks like I made good timing."

"No joke, man." The tall man said. "She's definitely a beauty. It would be a shame to have missed an opportunity as good as this."

"Yeah Tom. Maybe next time she won't walk alone in strange places." Bill said. A mischievous grin spread his thick lips.

"That is, if she ever walks again." Tom said. Both men chuckled. Amelia let out a small squeak of fear. The two men looked back down at her quaking form.

"You got a name girly?" The man named Tom asked, his eyes roamed all over her.

"No," Amelia said, her voice was weak.

"Nameless, eh? That don't matter none." Bill said. "How old are you? Collage? Yeah, I bet you're in collage."

He advanced; his burly arms reached for her. Amelia ducked under them and gave a swift kick to his crotch. Amelia made a break for it as the man doubled over but was soon caught by the collar by Tom and swung against a side door of the old brick building they were next to. Unfortunately, it had been abandoned for years and the rusty hinges broke, unable to withstand the force the two struggling bodies applied against it. Amelia fell in with Tom on top of her. Using this to his advantage, Tom flipped her onto her back and straddled her, pinning her white arms down on the floor with his knees.

"G-get the fuck off of me!" Amelia cried, kicking against his back with her legs.

"Oh! I almost forgot. Hold on a minute babe." Tom straightened up, still straddling her and dug into the pocket of his flannel, pulling out a dirty handkerchief. "That's better."

He stuffed the kerchief into Amelia's mouth and tied it behind her head. She gagged. It tasted like salt and tobacco. Tom's large dirty hands unbuttoned her shirt slowly; this was possibly to prolong her agony or maybe his personal excitement. Bill came rushing through the door, panting.

"You're gonna pay for that one you little whore!" He bellowed. "And what the fuck Tom?! Started without me did ya?"

"Shut up." Tom snapped. "Go keep watch or something. You can get yours when I'm finished!"

"Shouldn't of brought you along you sonofabitch." Bill whispered as he sulkily walked to the entrance and leaned against the doorway. It was too soft for Tom to hear but Amelia heard it clearly.

"Now." Said Tom, turning back to Amelia. "Where were we?"

He tried to feel up her shirt but Amelia resisted by grabbing his hands in an attempt to keep them from going any farther. Tom pulled out of her grip and slapped her across the face. The sound of the slap seemed to travel throughout the whole structure. The red handprint it left faded and soon darkened into a gnarly purple bruise. A single tear leaked from Amelia's tightly shut eyelids and without another word or protest from her, he continued to grope her full breasts from underneath her shirt. Dissatisfied, he eventually pulled the shirt off. Buttons scattered across the floor. His tongue licked down her neck and over her breasts as he undid her jeans and pulled them off.

"Are you done yet?" Bill called, sounding bored.

"Just wait your turn and shut up you dumb shit!" Tom yelled.

An immense black bubble of hatred and anger filled Amelia's insides. A raw energy spread through her veins like she'd never felt before. Tom didn't notice how her irises turned from green to a fiery red as he spread her legs and undid the fly of his jeans. Amelia felt am intense pain in her groin as he pushed himself inside her. Suddenly the bubble of unearthly energy broke. Her red eyes shone bright in the darkness as if they possessed their own light. Amelia tore through the dirty rag in her mouth with a pair of long white fangs. Noticing her movement, Tom looked up from her naked breasts.

"HOLY SHIT!" he cried. But that cry was cut short for the ungodly beast that was until milliseconds ago Amelia extended a white fist and punched through his chest, bursting out the other side in a shower of bone fragments and gore. Her teeth tore through his jugular and she sucked his lifeblood out of him. Moments later, she threw the empty carcass of her attacker off to the side. Tom's corpse flew across the room and hit the wall with a satisfying smack. She stood. Blood dribbled from her open maw down her neck and naked chest. The gory fist with which she punched through his gut dripped blood onto the dusty concrete floor. Bill, having watched the whole scene unfold and looking as if it was Satan himself that had emerged from Amelia's body stood stock still in the entrance. The full fledged vampire walked towards the petrified man in the doorway. Each step was silent and catlike. In front of the quaking man, her white fist loosened its steal grip and from it a bloody mass dropped to the floor, making a disturbing wet splat when it came in contact with the concrete surface of the floor. Bill made a small squeaky noise upon realizing what the lumpy red object was; Tom's heart. The vampire's full red lips parted and spread into a ferocious grin that made her face the definition of demonic. A low growl rose from her throat as she crouched, nails extended out towards the terrified man. Just then, Bill dropped to the floor in a dead faint. The beast that now held no resemblance to the mild-mannered girl from before was in mid-spring when a small, indistinguishable little blur of brown buried itself in between the monster's shoulder blades. Instantaneously, the bloodlight in Amelia's eyes dimmed and her eyeballs rolled up into her head as she collapsed on the floor beside her fainted victim.

* * *

_Sorry about the graphic rape...maybe I should of made this story rated M...oh well. I wrote that part during a really boring summer vacation with my family. hahaha! My dad was like "So what are you writing?" hahaha um....awkward! I lied and said that I was doing my AP summer homework....I dont think he bought it._

* * *


	7. Killers Are Quiet

_Mina is a reflection of a friend of mine, just like Amelia is a reflection of myself...well, certain parts of me. Reading this chapter, you will all discover that Mina is a screwed up kid. I was very angry when I wrote the first bit of this chapter. My best friend had just gotten into drugs and hooked up with a sketchy boyfriend and never seemed to care about anything else, so naturally, I felt very angry and betrayed. Now, she is even more into drugs and parties and though we're still good friends, I am still very mad at her. In a way, I can sort of project my emotions through Amelia to express what I can't say to people that I care about. Its kind of weird and I dont know if any of y'all understand, but this chapter really helped me through alot. It's probably my favorite, and deffinately the most meaningful....wow. that was personal. sorry! haha_

Amelia stood in front of her bedroom mirror in nothing but her underwear. Scattered around her on the floor were a number of rejected pants, skirts and a variety of shirts. She went for her closet to perform another thorough search of her clothes when the large, blocky satellite phone on her dresser rang obnoxiously, moving for the edge of the structure and finally falling off it altogether. Amelia dashed across the room and held out her hand; retrieving the phone before it even became fully free of the shelf. Her reaction time and response took less than a half a second. Had anyone else witnessed the inhuman speed she required to execute the performance would have made her well aware of her uncanny action but to her, her action was performed at a normal human speed and there was nothing special about it. Her natural inhuman reflexes had started to become apparent the following month. She would often catch things that fell several feet away or react to things before anyone else. People often asked her about it or gave her weird stares, but she never took any notice.

"Hello?" Amelia held the black phone up to her ear. "Oh, hi Frank!....yes I'm coming tonight…as a matter of fact I was just figuring out what to wear when you called – what?...oh _come off it_! I'm a woman aren't I?...Is Mina coming?...oh…well, that'll be okay I guess…no, no its fine, really…mk' see you soon…bye." She shut the phone and placed it back on the wooden dresser, then hesitated and grabbed it again, stuffing it in her bag.

It was 8:30 PM. Amelia had decided on a pair of jeans and a green and black striped shirt with buttons halfway down the front. Her white hand was on the door handle. She was about to leave when she paused and turned around – staring at her pallid reflection in the mirror. Her bright eyes appeared dimmed and lined with heavy dark circles from lack of food and sleep. That, along with her pale skin made her look like a walking corpse. With a dissatisfied sigh, she turned her back to her reflection and left the room. Downstairs, she encountered her aunt and uncle at the kitchen table.

"I'll be back late." She said.

"Not too late I hope." Her uncle said in a warning tone.

"Amy, you make me worry when you're out late like this. Please be safe. Bring your cell phone and never get into cars with strangers, be safe…" Her aunt would've gone on, on a long tangent if her uncle hadn't quieted her.

"Midnight's the curfew." He said, stopping any further argument.

"Thanks Charlie." Amelia said, winking at her uncle. She held out her palm expectantly and he dropped the family car keys in her hand. "I'll be safe, Auntie. I promise. And I have my phone." She took her cell phone out of her brown handbag as evidence. "Bye!" she called, grabbing a black zip-up sweatshirt and shutting the front door behind her.

* * *

Amelia met Frank in the driveway of the small red house he lived in, which was just a couple miles from her own. Amelia reached across the seat to unlock the passenger door.

"Howdy there!" Frank greeted her as he slid into his seat and buckled himself in place.

The two exchanged greetings and a few comments on the night's plans as Amelia drove them to a large stately house complete with a brick wall surrounding its perimeter and an iron gate. Mina leaned in front of the gate's black metal bars. Her short blonde hair was worked into two small pigtails. The denim skirt she wore was way too short with high-heeled black vinyl boots that reached her knees and the low-cut gray knit sweater that showed her white cleavage. Mina slid into the back seat of the car without a word and a quick glare in Amelia's direction. The drive to the city was silent from then on; except for Frank's attempts to strike up a conversation between the two girls, which only ended in an increasingly awkward silence.

A Friday night trip to the city presented a problem for the three friends. It was virtually impossible to find parking anywhere. After driving for what seemed like hours at crawling speeds under 15 miles per hour, Amelia finally found a parking space along the side of the street in front of an adult film store that had long since gone out of business. The large red light-up sign that hung above the entrance was hanging by only one end. It squeaked and creaked as it swung from side to side in the slight breeze. The shop's windows were boarded up with dirty two-by-fours; blocking the erotic merchandise available for young adults 18 and over with ID from view. Amelia cut the engine and the three minors stepped out of the red station wagon that she could never hope to own.

"So, what's on the Agenda for tonight?" Frank asked Amelia as they walked towards the brighter buildings and larger crowds of pedestrians. Mina walked behind them sulkily.

"I don't know…" Amelia thought, "I wonder who's playing at the 3116 tonight…what do you think Mina?"

"I don't care as long as I can have a beer and a date." Mina grumbled. Amelia sighed.

"It'll make her happy." Frank whispered in Amelia's ear, "irritating as fuck, but happy."

Amelia chuckled quietly.

It didn't take long to reach the 3116. A pair of large bouncers stood in front of the club's doors, checking the late night partiers for ID. It was an all age club and alcohol wasn't served there but those with a membership were directed to the left and those without one to the right to pay – which is where Frank, Amelia, and Mina were escorted. Inside the noisy club – which nothing more than the basement of a large building – the air was hazy with smoke, matching the smog that filled the city outside and the blaring of the whiney punk band on the makeshift stage made Amelia unable to hear. Her and Frank soon lost Mina to the overwhelming pull of the bar and the promise of alcohol and an easy date. Amelia and Frank stayed at the show. They pushed their way through the throng of young bodies into the middle of the mosh pit.

Inside the pit, Amelia gave herself away to the chaos. She let herself be thrashed about; knocking against body after body, be picked up by a group behind her and be hoisted up above the crowd and moved toward the stage. Up above the crowd, she caught the eye of the signer. She looked at him and he looked back for a good 10 seconds. Then, extending her white arm out, the tips of their fingers touched. Suddenly she was dropped back to the floor and the signer resumed jumping and thrashing around on stage. Amelia screamed along with the lyrics. It seemed like the noise and throng would carry on forever, but after three, the signer said 'goodnight' and the band departed. The Tec crew came out to disassemble their set to prepare for the next band. Amelia pushed through the remaining moshers to follow the leaving crowd.

In the bar, Amelia bought an orange soda. Sipping on her sugary drink silently, she watched from her seat at the end of the counter – away from the drunken adults and teens. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, watching Mina laughing and giggling with an empty bottle in her hand while a tall, muscular boy that had to be collage age felt up her mini skirt. She knew that she should have kept a closer eye on Mina. She should have stopped her from going into the bar. She probably mooched the beer off the older boy and his friends, who, she noticed had a small blue cooler. Even though she honestly cared for Mina in her heart of hearts, Amelia didn't want to deal with Mina's recklessness and couldn't have cared less about what she got herself into that night. _Let Frank worry about her._ She thought icily, turning her head from her best friend and her toy. Amelia proceeded to sip her drink quietly until she noticed the crowds drifting back towards the stage for the next band. Downing the rest, Amelia joined the throng.

The new band was more hardcore than the spunky pop-punk band that played previously. There was much more screaming and yelling than singing and the signer screamed lyrics about revenge and angst and downing the government and Amelia danced and moshed just as hard as she had before. After the second band, Frank and Amelia found each other amongst the thinning crowd that stayed by the stage to watch the next band set up.

"Those guys were great." Frank said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Yeah. Way better then the first band." Amelia agreed with him. "I thought that the singer was a bit of an asshole though, telling everyone to fuck off and all. It's so stupid when they do that."

"Ahh, they're just in the zone. It's all cool."

"Oh, of course. The zone. Right." Amelia and Frank continued to razz each other as they made their way into the bar again, this time for water. Mina and her date were nowhere to be found.

"Oh shit. Where did she go?" Amelia grumbled, pushing her way through crowds, checking around corners, by the restrooms, in front of the building. She couldn't think of anywhere else two people could find a deserted enough space to make-out. It was out the back door where she found the drunk and happy pair making out in the stairwell. Mina giggled and nipped at the boy's ear playfully as he felt up her shirt. Amelia cleared her throat loudly. This stopped the two's PDA immediately. The collage kid and Mina instantly whipped their heads around in Amelia's direction.

"Amelia!" Mina sighed as the two disengaged.

"I've been looking all over for you." Amelia said. Her arms were crossed and she held a disapproving scowl on her red lips.

"I'm sowy Amy!" Mina slurred. She was still very drunk. "I won't do it again. I promise!"

"Uh-huh. I'm sure you won't." Amelia said. "Now come inside with your new boyfriend, okay?"

"But it's pretty out here!"

"Mina…"

Mina stared at Amelia for a long moment; her full bottom lip puckering out like a pouty two year old's. "Okay…c'mon Kenny. Amy's being a party pooper." Her date chuckled and nuzzled her cheek.

"Hey babe, what're you be'in such a tight ass for?"

"I just want to make sure that she doesn't get pregnant tonight." Amelia said frostily. She turned on her heal and strode back into the club.

* * *

It was near midnight and the last band was packing up. Amelia waited at the entrance as Frank emerged from the doors with Mina supported by his side and her arm around his shoulder. Upon seeing her two best friends, Amelia felt a sudden urge to explore the night alone. Mina squirmed and Frank dropped her arm from his shoulder. Mina doubled over in the corner by the entrance and groaned.

"Do you want to throw up here or in the car, Mina?" Amelia asked, sounding tired and bored.

"Both…" Mina moaned, clutching her stomach.

"Does this happen often?" Frank asked worriedly.

"Yeah. She'll be fine." Amelia said. "Um…Frank, do you mind if I leave you and Mina? I kind of want to walk around alone for a bit."

"Uh…sure. Mina wants to see a movie for some reason so we're going to that one theater near here. Uh…meet us there I guess."

"Okay. I'll meet you there in a couple hours."

Amelia left the 3116. She walked aimlessly through the city passing clubs, bars, adult theaters and casinos; all lit up with their bright neon-lights to welcome the city's nighttime inhabitants. It must have been near twelve thirty when Amelia found herself in the business section of downtown Chicago. She had forgotten about meeting her friends at the theater, and about her curfew. Giant skyscrapers towered above the heads of all the lesser buildings; most of which were deserted except for the tall, extravagant hotels and casinos where people milled around the entrance, smoking and chatting. Amelia desired a place with less people – no people if that were possible. She wondered deeper and deeper into the city. She was trying to get lost on purpose. She finally succeeded in getting lost when she found herself passing warehouse by warehouse. She had unknowingly wondered close to the shores of the sprawling Lake Michigan where most of the city's goods were imported and exported. She was passing by the gate of an immense factory when she heard soft footsteps behind her. It was unnatural that she even heard the quiet, careful steps approaching her 100 feet back, but due to her advanced hearing that went beyond any human's she could hear the tentative steps clearly. Looking quickly over her shoulder, she glimpsed two men walking down the sidewalk towards her attractive figure. She could tell that they were whispering to each other and by their frequent glances in her direction she could tell that they weren't merely passing by.

Amelia felt oddly calm. She turned her back to the advancing men and continued walking, heading towards the bright, populated section of the downtown area. She glanced over her shoulder and noticed that the men had gained ground and were now 10 feet behind her. They called and whistled at her obnoxiously. After a couple minutes of this, the whistles and calls had stopped and she could only hear one pair of footsteps. Glancing over her should again; she saw only one of the men smiling wickedly at her. Her heart pulsed faster and she quickened her pace. She rounded corner after corner, trying to lose the man but after every alley and turn he was always there, just ten feet behind her. She could see neon lights and pedestrians ahead at the next intersection. She rounded another corner, figuring it would lead to a short cut. On the other side of the large abandoned brick building she ran into a large chest.

"Oof!" She exclaimed. The chest was hard as rock and very wide like a football players or a serious weightlifter. She backed up slowly. Her heart beat franticly against her ribcage and all moisture had left her mouth. In front of her stood the missing man from earlier. He was dressed casually in a plaid flannel shirt and dirty white undershirt and jeans. His face was scruffy like he hadn't shaved in a couple days and his eyes were bright and excited. A pair of cold hands grabbed her waist from behind. Amelia screamed and spun around to see the second man. He was taller and not as broad as the first but was dressed in similar casual attire. They appeared to be construction workers or possibly worked in a factory.

"Hello missy." The man that held her waist purred.

Amelia took a step back, smacking his large hands away, but by backing up she only ran into the first man. She was trapped. The two men conversed while she franticly searched for an escape.

"Hey Bill, how'd you get around so fast?" the taller man asked.

"I took a shortcut." The burly one, Bill, replied. "Looks like I made good timing."

"No joke, man." The tall man said. "She's definitely a beauty. It would be a shame to have missed an opportunity as good as this."

"Yeah Tom. Maybe next time she won't walk alone in strange places." Bill said. A mischievous grin spread his thick lips.

"That is, if she ever walks again." Tom said. Both men chuckled. Amelia let out a small squeak of fear. The two men looked back down at her quaking form.

"You got a name girly?" The man named Tom asked, his eyes roamed all over her.

"No," Amelia said, her voice was weak.

"Nameless, eh? That don't matter none." Bill said. "How old are you? Collage? Yeah, I bet you're in collage."

He advanced; his burly arms reached for her. Amelia ducked under them and gave a swift kick to his crotch. Amelia made a break for it as the man doubled over but was soon caught by the collar by Tom and swung against a side door of the old brick building they were next to. Unfortunately, it had been abandoned for years and the rusty hinges broke, unable to withstand the force the two struggling bodies applied against it. Amelia fell in with Tom on top of her. Using this to his advantage, Tom flipped her onto her back and straddled her, pinning her white arms down on the floor with his knees.

"G-get the fuck off of me!" Amelia cried, kicking against his back with her legs.

"Oh! I almost forgot. Hold on a minute babe." Tom straightened up, still straddling her and dug into the pocket of his flannel, pulling out a dirty handkerchief. "That's better."

He stuffed the kerchief into Amelia's mouth and tied it behind her head. She gagged. It tasted like salt and tobacco. Tom's large dirty hands unbuttoned her shirt slowly; this was possibly to prolong her agony or maybe his personal excitement. Bill came rushing through the door, panting.

"You're gonna pay for that one you little whore!" He bellowed. "And what the fuck Tom?! Started without me did ya?"

"Shut up." Tom snapped. "Go keep watch or something. You can get yours when I'm finished!"

"Shouldn't of brought you along you sonofabitch." Bill whispered as he sulkily walked to the entrance and leaned against the doorway. It was too soft for Tom to hear but Amelia heard it clearly.

"Now." Said Tom, turning back to Amelia. "Where were we?"

He tried to feel up her shirt but Amelia resisted by grabbing his hands in an attempt to keep them from going any farther. Tom pulled out of her grip and slapped her across the face. The sound of the slap seemed to travel throughout the whole structure. The red handprint it left faded and soon darkened into a gnarly purple bruise. A single tear leaked from Amelia's tightly shut eyelids and without another word or protest from her, he continued to grope her full breasts from underneath her shirt. Dissatisfied, he eventually pulled the shirt off. Buttons scattered across the floor. His tongue licked down her neck and over her breasts as he undid her jeans and pulled them off.

"Are you done yet?" Bill called, sounding bored.

"Just wait your turn and shut up you dumb shit!" Tom yelled.

An immense black bubble of hatred and anger filled Amelia's insides. A raw energy spread through her veins like she'd never felt before. Tom didn't notice how her irises turned from green to a fiery red as he spread her legs and undid the fly of his jeans. Amelia felt am intense pain in her groin as he pushed himself inside her. Suddenly the bubble of unearthly energy broke. Her red eyes shone bright in the darkness as if they possessed their own light. Amelia tore through the dirty rag in her mouth with a pair of long white fangs. Noticing her movement, Tom looked up from her naked breasts.

"HOLY SHIT!" he cried. But that cry was cut short for the ungodly beast that was until milliseconds ago Amelia extended a white fist and punched through his chest, bursting out the other side in a shower of bone fragments and gore. Her teeth tore through his jugular and she sucked his lifeblood out of him. Moments later, she threw the empty carcass of her attacker off to the side. Tom's corpse flew across the room and hit the wall with a satisfying smack. She stood. Blood dribbled from her open maw down her neck and naked chest. The gory fist with which she punched through his gut dripped blood onto the dusty concrete floor. Bill, having watched the whole scene unfold and looking as if it was Satan himself that had emerged from Amelia's body stood stock still in the entrance. The full fledged vampire walked towards the petrified man in the doorway. Each step was silent and catlike. In front of the quaking man, her white fist loosened its steal grip and from it a bloody mass dropped to the floor, making a disturbing wet splat when it came in contact with the concrete surface of the floor. Bill made a small squeaky noise upon realizing what the lumpy red object was; Tom's heart. The vampire's full red lips parted and spread into a ferocious grin that made her face the definition of demonic. A low growl rose from her throat as she crouched, nails extended out towards the terrified man. Just then, Bill dropped to the floor in a dead faint. The beast that now held no resemblance to the mild-mannered girl from before was in mid-spring when a small, indistinguishable little blur of brown buried itself in between the monster's shoulder blades. Instantaneously, the bloodlight in Amelia's eyes dimmed and her eyeballs rolled up into her head as she collapsed on the floor beside her fainted victim.

* * *

_Sorry about the graphic rape...maybe I should of made this story rated M...oh well. I wrote that part during a really boring summer vacation with my family. hahaha! My dad was like "So what are you writing?" hahaha um....awkward! I lied and said that I was doing my AP summer homework....I dont think he bought it._

* * *


	8. Savior

_Another chapter! I'm so excited! I'm already almost caught up! Currently, I am trying to finish chapter 10. I am stuck on a dialogue, a particularly intense one too. It's an important part and its sort of touchy, but I dont want to make it too sappy and corny, ya know? At the same time, I'm trying to make it realistic...or as realistic as I can. But anywho, please review and give any sort of constructive criticism you might have! Danke!_

D checked the slip of paper in his black gloved hand. On the wrinkled piece of paper was an address given to D by a clean-cut, business man in a neat gray suit and tie D had asked for directions. Of course, the man hurriedly scribbled the address on a piece of paper he had torn out of his orderly notebook after one cold, concise order from the dark man in black that disrupted his ogling.

The address the man had written was the following:

_716 Langdon St._

Most of the Nobility of this time were extremely hard – if not impossible – to locate. With even the mere question of their existence denied by all of the world, they had long since shut themselves away in the ruins of ancient castles hidden in the most remote and inhospitable mountains or advanced, pressure-resistant fortresses hidden at the bottom of the deepest ocean trenches or buried beneath the earth's crust. Some even wondered the sewers and tunnels underneath the ancient cities of London and Rome, running amok as savages among rats; deranged and stripped of all their former dignity. Marcus L. Valentine was the one known exception. D had recently become aware of his existence via the internet while exploring a vast, incredible force of all modern knowledge called _Google a_t one of the many Libraries around the city. The tall, unusually handsome professor who looked to be in his mid-thirties was shown in a popup add for night courses at the University of Wisconsin. Though the kindly smiling vampire's enlarged canines were invisable, D discovered his true identity in an instant. Not staying a moment longer, D had risen from his seat and dashed from the library, steeling a great black speed bike parked conveniently outside the building. Racing down the freeway at twice the posted limit, he arrived in Madison, Wisconson in half an hour.

D parked the black Kawasakie speed bike in front of the Lowell Center: a tall building that was in the shape of a rectangle with an L attached. Upon entering, a female receptionist with her mousey-brown hair piled on top of her head in a beehive and a perminate scowl set in her thin face looked up over a pair of overly-large glasses with thick rims and lenses of the same width. Her small, squinty eyes widened at the sight of the gorgeous man in black that just walked through the door. It took a long moment before the woman could speak;

"Uh, may I help you sir?" She finally asked in an unpleasant nasally voice.

"I'm looking for a man named Marcus Valentine." D answered in his smooth, quiet tone.

"You'll have to make an appointment." The receptionist answered.

"Would he mind if I saw him now?"

The receptionist set down the large stack of papers she was sorting and looked at D over her thick glasses. "Look honey, I'm going to have to schedule you an appointment if you want to talk to Mr. Valentine. Now give me a time and date and we'll see if we can fit you in."

D looked at the analog clock on the wall to his left. "10 o'clock tonight then." He said curtly.

The receptionist wrote the time down on a thick notepad before turning on her wheeled office chair to a large, boxy computer. After punching keys and clicking the mouse, she glanced at the screen momentarily before turning back to D.

"10 o'clock works fine." She said. "You have an hour and a half till your appointment. Would you like directions to Mr. Valentine's office?"

D nodded in assent and the receptionist bent over her notepad, scribbling with an oversized purple pen with a large artificial feather ontop. Tearing it off and setting the paper in D's black gloved hand she said 'goodnight'.

"Thank you for your help." D replied, and without further goodbyes, the Hunter turned his broad back to the secretary and left the building.

D walked through the large campus. It would have made more sense to have driven, for the medical sciences department was on the other end of the campus – but then again, he had an hour and the distance from the Lowell Center to his desired location was only 2 miles away. Half an hour later, D arrived at a brick building with a sign exclaiming Wisconsin Institute for Medical Research. D entered the building and ascended several flights of stairs before arriving at the door he sought.

The window of the door he arrived at was blacked out from the inside. A plaque next to the door proclaimed _Marcus L. Valentine M.D_ in bold white letters. "How ironic." The familiar hoarse voice chuckled from D's left hand as it turned the door knob.

The room D stepped into was dark. The whole back wall of the classroom was one great window but the blinds were drawn so that not even a sliver of moonlight shone through. Professor Valentine stood at the front of the classroom with a projector projecting the human anatomical position onto a white canvas screen. The handsome professor had paused his lecture on the names of the anatomical positions upon noticing D's intrusion. 30 or so students turned in their seats to view the intruder; their eyes were filled with rapture and bewilderment at their guest's gorgeous visage. One young woman in her early 20's – a tan blonde with wavy corn silk hair – licked her full red lips in ecstasy.

"Do you have a moment?" D asked the professor in a soft tone that though it was quiet, it made the listener well aware of the ungodly and deadly skill its speaker possessed. Several of the students gasped or moaned at the sound of the dark man's voice; it was every bit as gorgeous as the man himself.

"Um – uh, class," the normally composed professor stuttered, turning back to his class, "if you would please excuse me for a moment while I…meet with our guest. Read and take notes on pages 420 through 448 in the text."

A steady murmur filled the classroom as the students began to talk amongst themselves. Professor Valentine beckoned to D for him to follow as the incognito vampire led D through a door in the back of the room.

The room beyond the door was a supply closet of sorts. A couple rows of shelves filled with beakers, chemicals, and other testing equipment ran the lengths of the room like shelves in a library. Beyond this was a small square shaped room that served as a lounge room of sorts. A counter lined the wall farthest from the pair complete with a microwave, sink and coffee machine. In the center of the otherwise bare room stood a modest wooden table and four hard plastic chairs.

"I don't suppose I need to turn on the light for you?" Professor Valentine said, gesturing to the florescent lights that ran the ceiling. D's reply to the professor's rhetorical question was a dead silence. "I never thought I'd get the chance to meet you. You look just like your father by the way."

At Valentine's last remark, the room was filled with a disturbing aurora. The sheer intensity of it seemed to freeze the very molecules in the air and would have made any lesser man loose his mind but the young professor simply raised an eyebrow.

"My sincere apologies." He said calmly. "I didn't know that you felt that way. I shouldn't have even spoken. I'm sorry."

The air returned to normal.

"You're quite the talker aren't you?" Valentine said, teasing the all-serious Hunter. When all he received was silence, his face became as expressionless as stone – matching D's. "So, what do you want with me? I do have a class to get back to you know."

"I have an interesting dilemma." D replied coolly. He wasn't a fan for small talk nor the mention of his father. "I need information or advice...if you can provide it that is."

"My help, of course, depends on the dilemma." Said Valentine, walking over to a refrigerator. He pulled out a bottle of red liquid. Despite the darkness, D could clearly see the label on the bottle and the small print that read _Mark's Wine! Do Not Touch!_

"Wine?" He offered, pouring two glasses full of the red liquid.

"I don't drink." D said.

"Of course." Valentine nodded. "Of course…I've tried resisting once; never had the strength to continue with it obviously. This here of course is from the blood bank from the hospital. Most Nobility believe that denying the source is disgraceful. They hate me for this you know? But why? It's more economical than getting it from the source. I mean, imagine if the human law enforcers were to catch me? Of course it's extremely unlikely but I can't risk discovery as you could well imagine."

"Of course," D said coolly. "Now, about my problem…"

"Oh, yes of course!" The professor said. "Please, Proceed."

Professor Valentine listened with great intrigue as D told him of his trade and the events leading up to his current position and after gaining Valentine's absolute confidentiality through a series of intimidating threats, D told him of the war looming on a very near horizon and the end of the world as it was known and the uprising of the Nobility and that getting back to his world was of the uttermost importance.

Valentine was silent for a long moment. His tall, youthful figure posed in a state of deep thought. "That's impossible…" He muttered. "Improbable. I'm sorry to say that I don't have much information on the matter of the current Nobility. I removed myself from their secret society long ago. Their current plans, technology, and knowledge are unknown to me. I have coexisted and lived amongst humans for hundreds of years and I plan to keep on doing so. I'm sure that in 12090 you can pick up time displacing equipment at your local department store but the human technology of this day and age is nowhere near ready for such a phenomenon. I'm terribly sorry that I am unable to help you myself but I believe I know of a certain great personage who might be able to assist you…"

"I thought you were removed from the Nobility." D said icily; the threatening aurora from before filled the room.

"And I am." He said; his tone of voice didn't change in the slightest. It would seem that D's deadly air had no effect on the uncannily humane Noble. "Removed or not from their society, no Noble has passed through this existence without hearing of the great accomplishments of the Sacred Ancestor. I was not saying that I agree with his policies or that his experiments were always ethical. I was merely stating a fact. If the Great One cannot help you in your mission then no one can; human or not…or maybe this war is the key…" The last sentence the professor spoke was uttered quietly. His white forehead wrinkled as if he was suddenly in deep thought. "Yes…of course. You said that this…_hole_ happened completely naturally – out of the blue. But certainly there must have been some phenomenon to trigger it, some sort of astronomical disturbance perhaps. A nuclear blast may not be natural but it could be your only alternative."

D stood; signaling the end of his visit. He touched his hand to his hat as a symbol of gratitude.

"Thank you for your help." He said sincerely.

"Take care my young Damphir." Professor Valentine smiled – though he appeared to be around the same age as D himself. "You don't suppose you could stop by again for a visit sometime in the near future? Your kind has always held great interest in me."

"Do you have any information on a girl named Amelia West?" asked D, turning back to the vampire.

At the nonchalant mention of the name, Marcus Valentine's already chalky parlor seemed to turn a shade whiter – if that was even possible. "No." he said, much too quickly. "No. I am not familiar with the name. I'm sorry. If you don't mind, I must return to my students now. They're talking amongst themselves; they're wondering what's taking me so long and who you are. They suspect that something's going on between us but they're far from correct." The undead collage professor gave a long, almost adoring gaze towards his classroom. "Please, let me walk you to the door."

"That won't be necessary." D said, for he was already at the door.

"Good luck D." Valentine said. "Maybe we'll see each other in the future someday." But when the professor turned to say this, D had already disappeared.

* * *

Outside, D walked silently through the campus, passing through courtyards and pleasant gardens. Inside dormitories students slept soundly or could be heard screaming and shouting; celebrating the night. D rounded the corner of a building. He was in the parking lot of the Lowell Center. A white car with red and blue flashing lights on its roof was parked next to the black speed bike that D had stolen the previous day. A man in a blue uniform stood by the bike. D approached the University Police officer without a hint of emotion in his dark figure.

"Good morning sir." The officer greeted D. Of course, D returned the greeting with a cold silence. "Sir, are you the current owner of this vehicle?" The officer's voice was completely calm. No where in his expression could one detect a hint of impatience, or graveness. This was simply another night on the job. At least him and the Hunter seemed to have one thing in common.

"Yes."

"I'm going to have to see your license and registration for this vehicle sir."

"Why?"

"Well sir, there was a theft in Chicago late yesterday evening – a black Kawasaki fitting this vehicles exact description. Stolen or not, your vehicle is not licensed so I'm going to have to take you and your vehicle into custody."

D stood unmoving beside the stolen motorcycle and the officer made no move towards him. He stood by his flashing squad car, watching D intently. Suddenly, D went into action. In the time it had taken the officer to blink, D had crossed the space between him.

"Wha!" the officer yelped, as D struck him in the head.

D picked up the fallen man and placed him behind the wheel of his squad car, positioning him to look like he'd fallen asleep.

"He won't remember anything after tonight." D's left hand croaked. "I made sure of it."

D shut the door of the squad car and straddled the large black motorbike, hotwiring it to start the engine since he had no keys.

* * *

On the highway, the roadside scenery rushed by D as a continuous blur, the broken yellow line separating the two lanes of traffic seemed to melt into one line as D raced down the road at speeds over 100 mph. If there was one thing that D liked about being stuck in 1998 it was this bike. The engine's roar made it impossible to think and it blocked out all other noise as if it were the only sound in the whole world. It wasn't alive like a cyborg horse – thus you couldn't kill it with over excursion. It was a pity to have had to have stolen it.

"That was an interesting visit with Mr. Humanitarian back there." His left hand spoke suddenly; interrupting D's meditation. "You should've stayed and talked with the guy. He was interesting."

"He had a class to teach." D said. "And I have the information I need."

"So what? No time to stop for a little chat, some side conversation? No wonder you have no friends." His left hand scolded him.

"Time for you to stop talking." D warned.

"Time for you to get a life!" his left hand retorted. "You are…I dunno how old and, still, no girls! Despite you being so damn good-looking that you could have any woman, or man for that matter, human and nobility alike at your knees. You are one cold customer my friend. Now I know you have a demanding job and an old score to settle with _him_ but honestly, why not a little fun on the side? Not even when you're unemployed?! It just _kills_ me sometimes!"

"Then quit." D replied, his voice hard and cold like iron.

"Huh? Hey now, wait a minute! We're in this thing together! I depend on you as my host and you count on me to save your ass. I'm with you until the end; that's the pact we made, remember?" The engine's loud roar filled in the silence left in the wake of the talking appendange's speech.

D returned to the never-sleeping streets of the city he had left the day before – Marcus Valentine had called it Chicago. The return trip had taken a little longer than before. D returned the stolen bike to the same spot on the side of the road and erased the miles of the speedometer. Even under scrutiny, it was impossible to tell that the vehicle had been ridden at all. Not even a scratch or scuff ruined the vehicle's glossy black paint job. As D walked away, his left hand spoke once again;

"I have a feeling that, that _Marcus Valentine_ was hiding something." It said. "I'd _love_ to know what his connection to the Amelia girl is…"

"We don't know if he was hiding anything, though it's likely he is." D said. "I will find out through the girl."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" the hand muttered quietly.

* * *

_I've always pictured D riding one of those huge motorcylces, like those sleek, black fast ones?...Like batman's but not as chunky. I'm pretty sure Kawasakii makes those but I'm no motorcylce specialist so I dunno. Oh well. It's Japanese, Hideyuki Kikuchi's Japanese. It fits with the theme. I dont really know why I decided to make the story in Chicago. I've never been to nor seen Chicago nor any big city thats not Seattle or Vancouver BC so I just chose a vauge layout with basic stuff any city has. It's not like I have to be descriptive and I have Google as my ally, but if any of you live in Chicago and notice that I've made some unacceptable errors, you are free to chew me out for my ignorance. _

_Peace. =]_

* * *


	9. Angels and Demons

_Weee! Chapter 9! Chapter 8 was really short so I decided to go ahead and post 9. Wow, I'm almost caught up! I havent had alot of time to write lately so if I'm still not done with chapter 13 by the time I post chapter 12, it might be awhile before I update again. Sorry about the extreme variations in chapter length...I hope it doesnt matter to you!_

* * *

It was black as night under Amelia's closed eyelids; black and peaceful. She was unaware of her surroundings and behind her eyelids strange dreams involving demonic creatures with bat wings, blood, and war raged on, projected into her unconscious mind like pictures on a screen. Her dreams switched, filled with an annoying ringing in the background. Amelia stirred, irked by the sound. It continued to grow louder as Amelia slowly woke. She could feel the surface beneath her; hard and damp. Somewhere in her mind she knew it was wood, and old wood at that for it creaked with protest whenever she stirred. The air around her felt cold on her skin. She sensed the tiny goose bumps on the surface of her bare arms. Her mind switched to examining her body. She felt sore. Every fiber of her; every bone, every muscle hurt as if she had spent the night laying in Chicago's busiest intersection. She tried to open her eyes to locate that annoying ring that continued on no matter how hard she tried to focus on something else. She succeeded with one, but her left eye remained closed as if it had been sewn shut.

With only one eye, Amelia examined her surroundings. She could tell that she was indoors. The air smelled musty and dank like mold. It was dim. The only light was supplied by a couple grimy windows, one of which was shattered; fragments of glass hanging in the gaping hole and strewn on the floor. She searched franticly with her open eye to locate the ringing but was unsuccessful. She groaned with frustration as she was forced to listen to it.

"She's awake!" a hoarse voice exclaimed from an unseen location.

Startled by the voice, which sounded vaguely familiar, Amelia leapt up into a threatening crouch more suited for an animal than a human being; then in a sudden spell of dizziness, she fell back to the floor. She searched for the voice's owner with her good eye. It had come from a doorless hallway that emptied into the room where she laid. The tall figure that stood in the doorway's black clothes matched with the darkness; making him invisible except for the white skin of his gorgeous face. Amelia felt her jaw drop to the floor when she realized the identity of the dark angel in the doorway.

"Y-you…" she tried to shout this but upon speaking, she found that her throat was bone dry and the exclamation came out as a weak whisper.

D stepped into the dimly lit room. His gray, joyless eyes stared at her. She stared back, only her eyes could never produce the blood-freezing effect that D's could.

"You…I-I wanted to…I need…ah!" Amelia cried out and clutched her chest as a stabbing pain erupted in her chest. It hurt to breath. "What's…happening…to me? She said with difficulty.

"Don't move." D said without feeling. Amelia failed to notice that the low, attractive voice he used now was completely different from the one she had first heard. "You broke a few ribs and you have lots of bruises."

Amelia made a quiet whimpering sound and a tear escaped from her eyes, followed by more and more until the separate drops came together to form streams of salty water.

"Do you remember last night?" D asked her. Amelia bit her cracked, bloody lip and nodded weakly. Tears rolled down her bruised cheeks. "Most of it," She said quietly. Her voice was beginning to regain strength. After attempting a deep breath and realizing it hurt too much, she continued. "I remember everything until…well, I don't exactly know when but, there was one point where everything turned red and I…I felt very strange…"

D didn't prompt her to continue or ask any questions regarding how she felt. He simply let her retell her horrifying experience without any interruptions, standing over her like a beautiful grim-reaper. He watched her struggle to form the right words without sympathy.

Amelia looked up at D with frightened eyes.

"I wanted to kill." She said. Her next words came out in pleas and then screams. "Please help me! God, why do you just stand there? I _know_ that you know what's happening to me, I know that you know how to help me. Stop staring!"

D watched the floods of tears pouring from her large eyes and the sobs that she held back to keep from disturbing her broken ribs. A flicker of emotion surfaced in his eyes. He spoke.

"First, it's not _what_ you're becoming but _who_ you are." D said softly. "I know this because I am like you."

"Like how?" Amelia sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"You're a Damphir, Amelia," D said, still using the same soft tone from before. "The offspring of human and vampire. Though for your childhood years, you grow and develop like a human child, aside from subtle differences like strength, endurance, and pale skin. Until maturity, your vampiric side remains dormant. You have almost reached full adult maturity and are beginning what is called the _metamorphic stage_. Your body is changing. It requires more sleep during the day, less sunlight, and of course blood. You will never become a full-fledged vampire but you will also never return to your former childhood life as a human being."

It was several minutes before Amelia could even think of what to say to D's outrageous and inconceivable explanation. On one hand, what D had claimed to be true was impossible. Vampires were in the same category with ghosts, goblins, and the boogeyman. They were spooky campfire stories and movies designed for cheap thrills. They were stories your parents told you when you where little so that you wouldn't venture outside during the night or raid the kitchen for a midnight snack. On the other hand, it was possible that his crazy claims were true. How else could she explain her sudden lack in interest of food, the strong thirst-like sensation she felt of which no amount of water or soda could cure, her extreme insomnia, and last night's unsettling phenomenon?

"How can I believe you?" Amelia wondered aloud. "None of this makes any sense, but at the same time…it does. I mean, how else could you explain what I'm going through? Early menopause? But vampires don't exist…god! I don't even know what to think anymore!" She looked at his gorgeous, dark figure desperately.

That little spark of emotion surfaced again in D's gray eyes. One could wonder until their death as to what it was. Whether it was compassion, pity, empathy, or maybe even sympathy (if that was even possible) no one knew. The Hunter in black knelt beside the distressed girl.

"Look at me and listen carefully." He murmured, his tone was firm but a small amount of kindness could be detected. Amelia raised her head to gaze at his, immediately loosing herself in the gravitational pull of his eyes.

"There's a war going on." D said. "In a matter of weeks, everything you know in this world will be destroyed by nuclear weapons of the fighting countries. Millions will die and the survivors will fare no better in the living hell created after. An ancient race of beings that went into hiding centuries ago will rise again and gain control. It will be many a millennia before the rightful balance between vampires and humans is restored. I am not here to help you. You must be strong and find the power in yourself to bear the burden of mixed blood alone."

"D…I'm sorry but this is a little more than I can handle right now…" Amelia said quietly when D finished. "How do you know about all of this anyway? How can I trust that you're not just fucking crazy?"

"My coming here was a complete accident." D said. "I was on a job and fell through a rip in time and ended up here. I need to get back to the year 12090."

Amelia managed a single, barking laugh. She clutched her side in pain as she spoke. "A-and how can I…believe that?" She winced with pain as she breathed, lying back to make it easier. "That story is just even weirder than the last one! What's your _job_ anyway? You don't seem like the employee type."

"I'm in business for myself." D said. "I'm a Vampire Hunter."

"Oh, right." Amelia nodded. "You're funny."

D stood, ready to leave. A ringing sound filled the room again; quiet, almost inaudible for human ears but D and Amelia heard it clearly.

"What the hell is that noise?" Amelia said, irritated. "It's been bugging me for hours!"

"Your phone." D said. "It's been doing that since I found you last night."

"_You mean you didn't answer it?!_" Amelia yelled at him. "Where is it?"

D reached into his large black coat and pulled out the heavy black phone. It vibrated and rang in his hand. He handed it to her. Amelia looked at the screen.

"30 missed calls?!" She cried. "From _Home?!_ Shit!" She looked at D expectantly, as if the answer to all her problems would appear on his lips. "What should I say?"

D held out his black gloved hand silently. Amelia set the device in his large palm. D pressed the _call_ symbol and held the oversized portable phone to his ear, which Amelia noticed to be slightly pointed. She slowly felt the tips of her own ears. They were pointed too. She could hear the phone ringing on the other end.

"Hello?" the familiar voice of her Aunt answered, her tone was always sweet and welcoming. Amelia could detect strain in her voice like she'd been crying over something moments before the phone rang.

"Hello." D said. His voice was smooth and calm, devoid of all emotion.

"W-who is this?" The tone of her aunt's voice changed from sweet to worried and frightened. Amelia wanted to grab the phone from him.

"D."

"D who?"

"A couple days ago I came by with your daughter." D replied, voice still passive.

"Oh! Yes of course, D!" She said, her voice back to the sweet and motherly tone from before. "Do you know where she is? Is she alright? Where is my little niece?"

D dropped the cell phone into Amelia's lap. She could still hear her aunt asking questions on the other end. Amelia picked up the phone with shaky hands and held it to her ear.

"Auntie?" Amelia spoke carefully and gently.

"AMY!" Her aunt shrieked. "oh my goodness, where have you been?! Are you hurt? Why weren't you back by midnight young woman? Your uncle and I have been worried sick!"

"Um…it's a long story…" Amelia said. "But I'm fine. I'm so sorry Auntie. I just wasn't keeping track of the time and I got a little lost but I ran into D and I'm fine."

"You got _lost?!_" Mrs. Wisteria shrieked. "_Lost?!_ In downtown Chicago in the middle of the night?! You left your friends! It's a miracle you weren't killed or worse! You're lucky that you ran into Mr. D before you ran into someone else. I'm appalled that he didn't take you straight home…you two didn't do anything 'funny' did you?"

"He doesn't have a car." Amelia said. "And no, D is a very sensible young man and would never take advantage of anyone. I'm alright. I'll come straight home."

"Did Frank and Mina get home safe? They rode in _your_ car."

Amelia paused. She had completely forgotten about her two companions. She remembered that they had gone to the movies when she left. She felt for her car keys in her pocket. They were still there.

"Um...they probably took the bus or something." She said. "I'm sure that they made it home safe."

"Well, I want to call their parents and make sure they're okay. And you will come straight home young woman."

"Bye." Amelia pressed the 'end call' button and set the phone in her lap. She let out an exasperated sigh. "Oh man…." She moaned, burying her face in her hands. "Why me?"

"I'm sorry." D said.

"You didn't do anything." Amelia said, raising her head to look at the Hunter with her anguished eyes. "It's not your fault that I'm a freak."

"You're never going to make it with that attitude." A hoarse voice said, Amelia recognized it instantly: it was the same voice that had woken her.

"What's with the voice?" She said. "It's really annoying."

D held out his left hand, palm up. In the center was a tiny wrinkled face. It smirked at her. Amelia yelped at the sight of it.

"What the hell is that?!" She shrieked.

"What do you mean 'what the hell is that'?" the parasite asked angrily. "I _am_ a person for your information and I don't much like being degraded by being called a _thing_ or an _it." _

"Um…D, what exactly is that?"

"I'm a sentient symbiote, thank you very much."

"You mean, you're a parasite?!"

"No! Well, not a _bad_ parasite. I'm rather helpful. If it wasn't for me, this guy here that I'm attached to wouldn't be here."

"I see." Amelia accepted D's strange companion rather quickly. "How exactly did you two become…attached?"

"Actually, it was kind of funny-" Before his hand to get to the story, D clenched his fist, cutting the hoarse voice off with a pitiful yelp.

"It's a long story." He said coolly. "You should go back to your home."

"I guess." Amelia sighed, standing up. She still winced some but most of the pain from her ribs was gone now and most of her cuts and bruises had already healed. She could even open her left eye now. "It's going to be weird going back there again, seeing my friends. God, how am I going to tell this to my aunt and uncle? They're not going to believe me…"

"You don't have to." D said softly. "They already know."

"What? Wait…how could you…?"

"The other day, when I dropped you off they knew what I was and told me to keep watch over you." D looked passed her as he said this, his eyes focused on something far away. "You have good guardians. You're very lucky."

Amelia was at a loss for words.

* * *

The girl's panting breath echoed down the long brick hallway as she ran; running as fast as her legs could carry her. She dove behind a corner, holding her back against the wall as she gasped for air. When her breathing slowed, she took a tentative glance around the corner, into the hallway she had just fled. The dark tunnel was empty. She leaned back against the wall, letting her legs collapse so she slid to the floor. She sighed with relief. A quiet thump interrupted her relief. Her closed lids snapped open and alert. She looked to her left. A black silhouette had landed on the ground in crouch just feet from her. The young woman's breath quickened as she scrambled to her feet. Before she could even turn, he caught her.

"Hello." A voice purred from within the black trench coat. The collar was pulled up high around his white face and in the darkness, all the girl could see was a pair of red glowing eyes. A white hand extended from the man's sleeve and he brushed her thick blonde hair from her shoulders. The woman shuddered. She tried to scream or struggle but found that she couldn't move or speak. She was hypnotized by those crimson eyes. The man's collar dropped revealing a pair of blood red lips. The man lowered his head to hers; letting his lips part to reveal a pair of long white fangs. The girl screamed.

* * *

_And here we have a random bit completely unrelated to the rest of the chapter! It will all make sense later I promise!!! Sorry about the kind-of-clifhanger...but anywho, please review!!!_


	10. Confrontations

_Weeeeee! Chapter 10! It's been a while since I've posted...sorry about that. I've been crazy busy these past few weeks and I'm sad because I'm catching up with myself! I just ended chapter 12 and I havent been able to have time to start chapter 13 and I'm having a bit of writer's block right now so just FYI, in a couple weeks, the breaks between chapters are going to start getting realllllyyyyy long. *sadface*  
__But anywho, thankyou for all of your reviews! Enjoy! [alt3] _

_And by the way, I dont know if any of you reconize the chapter titles, but most of them are either song titles or lyrics to metal songs...oh...wait only four or so. Most of them are from Slipknots very first EP Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. Its amazing. I actually got the title of the story from the song Science Fiction from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I just thought it was a cool line...um...yeah. but anywho, FORWARD HO!!!!_

* * *

Amelia sat alone in her room. She watched her feet dangling off the edge of her bed, swinging them back and forth. She could hear her aunt and uncle talking to D downstairs. She flopped back onto her bed with an exasperated sigh.

"Fuck my life." She muttered, staring at the ceiling above her.

The doorknob turned. She jumped up, startled, relaxing when she saw that it was D who was standing in the door way.

"Oh…hi," She lay back down on the bed. "What's up?"

"The ceiling." A hoarse voice said.

"Very funny," Amelia retorted. "At least _you_ have a working sense of humor."

"Your guardians were kind enough to allow me to stay here until I can return." D said.

"What?" Amelia gasped "I mean, that's fine and everything, but why?"

"It'll be easier if I'm going to watch over you."

"I thought you said that I was on my own."

"You are for the most part, but I believe you might be in danger."

D's hand disappeared inside his coat which he never took off and produced a newspaper. It landed on her bed with a smack. Amelia sat up and picked the paper off of her bed.

"Mysterious killer threatens collage campus…" Amelia read the headline aloud. The article went on to describe a series of murders at the University of Wisconsin. Each victim had no external wounds except for two small puncture wounds at the base of the neck. The bodies were also completely drained of blood. The victims, all female, were also all enrolled at the university and were either from the freshman or sophomore class. The killer wasn't caught for the fingerprints left behind were unreadable on the forensic lab's software. The article was a week old.

"What does this have to do with me?" Amelia asked. "This isn't even local news."

"Do you know what the killer is?" D asked ominously.

"Are you telling me it's a vampire?" Amelia asked, no surprise showing on her pretty face. She was getting better at handling things.

"Yes." D said. "That much should be obvious. Funny thing is, I believe it's one particular vampire I visited two days ago. His name is Marcus Valentine. He's undercover as a teacher at the university; night school obviously. He claimed to be righteous and that he only drunk donated blood from the hospital blood bank but he just didn't seem right."

"How do you know that it's this particular vampire?" Amelia asked. "I mean, there must be loads of them roaming all over."

"No." D shook his head, long black hair swirling in his face. "Their numbers are actually quite few. Nearly all of them are in hiding – driven out of the human world during the industrial revolution. Valentine's the only one I know about…plus, I believe he has ties to you."

"What do you mean by _ties_?"

"While visiting with him, I asked if he knew anything about you, about your father. He was rather hesitant in his answer. I've been tracking more recent cases and since last week there's been identical murders to the University killings in every town from Madison to Chicago."

"Do you think _he's_ my biological father?" Amelia's eyes were wide in their sockets. Her mouth hung open in incredulous disbelief.

"Either that or a very close friend...and he's on his way here."

Amelia fell silent for a moment. She was in deep thought. "What are we going to do?" She asked gravely.

"We have to find him before he kills more innocents. He's already out of control...plus, I think he owes us an explanation."

* * *

It was a snowy December night in Chicago, Illinios. Valentine watched a group of collage girls from his table; pretending to occupy himself with the menu. One of the girls; a brunette with long curly hair, looked over her shoulder at him. Meeting his dark red eyes, she turned back to her friends. He heard them giggle. Valentine smiled to himself. Suddenly, a strong scent invaded his nostrils. The unbearable scent was followed by a fire - a strong burning sensation that started in his nose and spread throughout his whole nasal cavity and sineses. His mouth went dry and he felt his tounge swell. Growling quietly to himself, he noticed that the group of girls had ordered a basket of garlic bread. he layed down the unappetizing menu and rose from his seat, shielding his mouth and nose from the toxic fumes of the garlic.

_There were too many of them anyway._ He thought in frustration.

Outside of the Italian Restraunt that he promised himself to never return to, Marcus Valentine looked up at the tiny flakes falling from the clouds; which reflected the city lights and made the sky appear a dim orange color, making the night brighter. This made Valentine sad. He remembered a time long ago when streets were unlighted, save for the light spilling from tavern windows and the night was black as pitch; black to the humans at least. The dawn of the industrial revolution lit the sky with civilization's bright lights and the term _night_ suddenly lost its former meaning. People roamed the streets without fear and vampires, without the protection of darkness to hide them from their prey, vanished. Valentine squinted. The brightness hurt his eyes. The pitch black night humans saw was bright as day to a vampire's eyes and the city lights made the once comfortable dark too bright for them to stand. He exhaled, remembering that it had been at least two hours since he last remembered to breathe. He watched the thin wisps of condensation exit his mouth in a white vapor. A chilling sensation slowly crept over him. Suddenly, the professor whirled around to face the dark corridor to his right. He saw nothing but he could have sworn that only seconds before he had heard soft footsteps.

"Valentine." A low, smooth voice came from the street corner at the end of the building. While the voice held no emotion, the vampire's name was hurled at him like a stake made of ice. He instantly recognizing the voice's owner and was immediately filled with a fear that was embedded in the hearts of all creatures living and undead; the fear of self-preservation.

"D." Valentine returned the emotionless greeting with just as much enthusiasm. Any trace of fear that the vampire harbored was not shown in his words or his expression.

The vampire hunter stepped out from the shadows, but Valentine sensed another presence hidden behind the building. D did not reply to Valentine's greeting with words. Instead, he tossed a newspaper at the vampire. The stack of papers landed with a thud at Valentine's feet.

"What's this?" He asked curiously.

"Read it." D commanded.

Valentine looked down at the newspaper. There on the front page, the title _Mysterious Killer Threatens Collage Campus_ was written in bold block letters. Valentine smirked.

He looked up at the Damphir before him from underneath his long eyelashes.

"And what does this have to do with me?" He asked, innocent as the question might have been, the vampire's voice was the farthest thing from it.

"Only drink blood from the Blood Bank, huh?" D said. His cold voice seemed to freeze the air. "I should have seen right through you from the start."

Remembering the Damphir's occupation and the origin of his vampire blood, Valentine took a step back from his formidable foe.

"I won't kill you…at least not until I can get some answers." D said. It was impossible to tell what he was feeling. He was a true master of self-control.

"What sort of answers?"The tables had indeed turned for the vampire. The hunter had now become the hunted and the undead collage professor was now a slave to D's unsettling aurora. It was truly a pitiful sight.

"Why don't you ask me?" The female voice caught Valentine off guard. Surprise surfaced on the vampire's composed face for a brief moment. Amelia stepped out of the corridor and stood at D's side. Her arms were folded across her chest and her feet were spread apart in a wide stance as she waited. Her green eyes flashed crimson. At the sight of her, the vampire's composure crumbled.

"A-Amelia?!" The expression that surfaced on his face was truly odd. While surprise was the dominant feature on his white face, another emotion made itself present. The expression he wore was one akin to how a father might react to the sudden appearance of his long-lost daughter. "I…how did you…?"

"During our last meeting, when I asked you for any information regarding her, you seemed rather hasty in answering. Believe me, it didn't take long to put two and two together. I just needed to tell her first…and wait for another reason to come after you. I'm disappointed to have found that it is truly impossible to stop a vampire's hunger for fresh human blood. Up until now I thought I had found hope…" Contrary to D's words, his face held no sign of disappointment or anger.

Valentine was speechless. He took another tentative step away from the two Damphirs. Amelia took a step forward. She would have gone right up into his face if D hadn't put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Why did you kill mother?" She growled. Her whole frame shook with anger.

"I didn't kill her." The vampire said. By now he had regained some composure and his voice was relatively calm, yet that didn't stop him from taking another step away from his angry half-blood daughter. "She died giving birth to _you_. If anything, it was _you_ who killed her."

"_Fucking bastard, it was _your_ fault for knocking her up!_" Amelia snarled, leaping at him. Her eyes glowed crimson. Valentine's hand flashed out, backhanding his daughter on the cheek. The force of this slap sent the young Damphir flying across the sidewalk. She crashed into the brick wall of the building behind her and D, sliding to the ground with a groan. Luckily, the movement was so quick the human pedestrians around them didnt notice the commotion. D watched this extraordinary display of child abuse passively. The only time he moved was to step out of the way of Amelia's flying body when her vampire-father hurled her in his direction.

"What language!" Her father scoffed. "Did your guardians not teach you any manners? And what of you D? Why do you stand idly by while your fellow Damphir dies? Are you not of the same breed; the filthy, half-blood bastard-spawn that dilutes our pure blood and puts the noble race of the vampire to shame? Such a pity is your unnatural race. You're destined to a fate worse than humans."

"Such hate you harbor for the human race." D said coolly. "Why then did you bed one?"

Valentine's expression changed; flashing to one of sarrow then back to anger. "I didn't always harbor such hatred." He said veminately. "I was quite curious about humans in my earlier years, so I became a student of the human sciences. I always had wondered how they lived with themselves, their sickness, and their disease. It didn't take long for me to understand. Their medicinal methods are rather simple. I began to understand the human body quite well and began to think up cures of my own. It was amusing to me, to think up medicines and watch them be tested, always successfully, and to watch the humans come up with medicines of their own, and watch those tests fail. Her mother was a student of mine. I was stupid and wasn't long before I fell in love. She loved me too, even after I told her what I was. After she died during childbirth, I realized that no matter how hard they tried, the human race could never escape death and disease. They are all weak, sickly creatures while we, the vampires, remain forever in everlasting health. I stayed at this collage because of the Sacred Ancestor. He bid me to stay to monitor the humans and to bring information of their world to his majesty. But none of that matters now. The Great Destruction is coming. In a matter of days we may have our rightful reign." Valentine chuckled at the end of his speech. His sneering face represented that of a demon.

"Your control over humanity will only be temporary." D said. "In the end, the strong will of humanity will override your rule and your race will fall into extinction."

Valentine laughed at this. "And how does an immortal become extinct?" He sneered.

"Immortality is a relative term." D said. For a moment, murderous anger showed on his gorgeous face. "Though your lives extend for forever-"

"There are ways you can be killed." Amelia interrupted, stepping out from behind D. The wooden stake she flung from her hand traveled faster than the human eye could follow, yet not fast enough for it was deflected easily by the vampire's superhuman reflexes. Suddenly, Valentine's face contorted with pain. He dropped to his knees. A silver long sword pierced his chest, running through his heart and protruding out his back. While he deflected the stake, Valentine left himself wide open. D took this chance to hurl his sword with a speed surpassing what even most pure-blooded vampires could reach, nailing Valentine in the heart.

As the crimson light drained from his eyes, Valentine beckoned to Amelia. She came to his side and knelt by him. "I'm sorry." She whispered. All signs of her anger at him were gone, replaced by sadness. Salty tears, something vampires could never produce, fell from her eyes, landing on her dying father's pale cheeks. "I didn't want to do this…but it…it had to be done…forgive me…"

"I was stupid to have loved your mother..." Her father growled as the stolen blood from hundreds of humans drained from him. Spasms shook his form as he lay dying. "You...you and everyone you love...will...feel the wrath...of the Nobility..." The red light left the vampire's eyes leaving their exposed orbs black and empty. Salty tears, something a vampire was incapable of producing, tickled down Amelia's cheeks, falling on her dead father's already-crumbling form. Emotion overtook her and she was soon shaking with heavy sobs.

"He would have killed you anyway." D said without compassion or sympathy. "They're all the same, Amelia. Just because you share his blood doesn't mean he deserves your pity and tears."

"You don't know anything!" Amelia screamed, whirling around to face her emotionless companion. "You just tell yourself that bullshit because it makes killing them easier! How can you be so cold-hearted? Huh? You selfish, cruel, bastard! I know what your problem is. Just because you hate your life, you go about killing a whole race because your father made you miserable. You're miserable, so you go and make the world miserable with you! I thought that you might help me! I thought that maybe for the first time in my life, someone understood me and could sympathize, but no! God, I might even have loved you…but that doesn't mean shit to you does it? You don't care about anything, or anyone but yourself! I've had enough of this shit, and I've had enough of you too!" By this time, Amelia's face was just inches from D's. Angry tears poured from her eyes as she yelled at him and beat at his chest. "Just stay away from me! Do you hear? _Stay a-fucking-way!_ But that won't be a fucking problem for you at all, will it? Because you just don't fucking care!"

D looked down at the emotional wreck of a girl that cried against his chest. He grabbed her shoulders with his hands and pushed her away from him gently. Though his face appeared blank, a deep sorrow filled his dark eyes. Amelia knew that she hit a sensitive spot, if that was even possible.

"Is that what you think?" He asked softly.

A wave of misery washed over her as Amelia realized what she had said. She opened her mouth to apologize but the Hunter in black had already turned away and was walking back to the parking lot where the re-stolen black speed bike awaited him. Fresh tears made his tall silhouette a blur as she watched him go.

* * *

_Yup...D likes that motorcycle. Poor guy that owned it though. I can just imagine him walking out of his appartment or something. "WTF?! It's gone again!" heeheehee! For lack of anything else, I just decided that he stole it again last minute. Sorry if some parts of this were corny or anything. I had originally had the scene take place at the University but then I realized that it would make more sense for her to be in danger if her father came to Chicago so I had to completely change the scene. Heehee random allergy attacks to garlic! that part made me laugh....UGH! Why is this story becoming so sad?!?!?! I originally thought of it because I thought it would be funny to see D riding on a cyborg horse in the middle of Chicago....and I thought he needed company. But the cyborg horse stayed at home....oh fiddle sticks._


	11. Resolve

_HOLEY SCHNIKIES! I just realized that I totally forgot to put a disclaimer thing at the beginning of this story! I hope its not too late for one, but here it is, almost at the end of the story and I'm just going to have to put it in now.... _

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own Vampire Hunter D, or his world. All of that belongs to mister Hidyuki Kikuchi. But all the characters, including Luna are of my own creation. Some of their names are barrowed though. Mina was taken from Mina Harker from Dracula and proffessor Valentine's name was taken from Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII. Oh, and there is another character in the next chapter that I definatley do not own, but I'm sure you'll figure it out when you read it. *german accent* No spoilers for you!_

* * *

Amelia nearly sprinted to her bedroom as soon as she got home. After D had left her, she had called Frank, nearly in hysterics, asking if he could pick her up. Immediately, he drilled her about the night before, demanding to know what happened and asking if she was alright. After much persuasion and promising him an explanation on the way home, she hung up. Frank was her best, and at the moment only, friend. They had met in elementary school on a deserted swing set one winter day when all the other kids on the playground were having a snowball fight, and they were the only two kids who werent invited. Since then, they joined forces to combat the playground bullies and comforted each other. She accepted him as a homosexual and he accepted her for being different, though he never knew exactly what it was that made her different…

She waited for him in front of a small Italian restaurant on the street corner where D had left her. Though it was snowing, she didn't feel the cold. She didn't feel anything, except numbness. It was an hour before Frank's old ford pickup pulled up in front of her. She climbed into the passenger's side of the toasty cab, avoiding her best friend's eyes. The bench seat was worn and the white stuffing that was supposed to be hidden inside the seat came out in small tuffs from small tears in the brown leather. Sensing her mood, Frank started the engine without a word, cursing quietly when it stalled. The silence didn't last long, for only a minute into the drive home, Frank lost his patience and the inquisition began.

"What happened last night, Amelia?" He asked. He never called her by her full name unless he was concerned or being very serious. "I never heard from you until now…even Mina was worried and she was drunk out of her mind. Your Aunt and Uncle called us at two in the morning asking where the hell you were and neither of us had an answer. Why were you in town without a car tonight? Why wasn't someone with you? Were you kidnapped?! Your Aunt called saying that D had brought you home this morning, but it could have been a fake call from some creeper's wife for all I know!"

The whole time he spoke, Amelia never met his eyes. She looked away from him, staring out the passenger window. She didn't want to tell him what had happened to her out of fear of making him worry, but she knew that he had a right to know. Even when she told him, she couldn't bring herself to look at him.

"I…I was really stupid Frank. Really, really stupid…" She began. Continuing to stare out at the passing night through the passenger window, she told him about getting lost and how she ran into two strange men and how they stole her innocence. She skipped the gory details, telling him that D had found her and chased them off, not that she had turned into a full-fledged vampire and tore her violator's heart out. She told him that D took her home and that later he had located her father and that he was in town, so her and D had gone to meet him, saying only that the meeting didn't go well, not that he had attempted to kill her and that D had killed him instead. When asked how she ended up alone, she told him that she and D had gotten into a fight and that he left her.

"Wow…I-Amelia...I'm so sorry." Frank said at the end of her tale. It had left him in shock and though he had known her for years, he had not had enough time to process the information to make an appropriate response. "That's…oh my god…I'm so glad that you're okay. It's a miracle that you're alive. Next time I see that bastard, I'm going to kill him for leaving you like that. I just can't believe it! I knew it! I just knew that a man that gorgeous just _had_ to be an asshole! Oh. My. God. I am so going to kick his ass so hard..."

However, as Frank talked, Amelia still seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. Her eyes held a glazed-over look and stared vacantly out the window as if her mind were a thousand miles away. "He's just so strange…" She said, thinking outloud. "I shouldn't have insulted him like that. I want to find him and apologize, but I don't know if I'll ever see him again. He'll probably never forgive me for what I said…"

"Amelia?" Frank asked, looking at her worriedly. Amelia turned to look at him. "Are you in love with him or something? I mean, I wouldn't blame you. He's so fucking gorgeous. I mean, even if I were straight, he'd still get me hard just by looking at him. Honestly though, he's out of our league…he's out of everyone's league. Just do yourself a favor and forget about him, okay honey? The only thing chasing that sexy hunk of man flesh around will do for you is make you miserable."

Amelia shook her head and smiled at him. "Yeah...I dont know. I guess you're right, Frankie. Thanks."

"No problemo, chicka." He said. "Hey, we should go to the mall tomorrow and do some boy hunting or something, kay? We both need boyfriends."

Amelia giggled. "Alright, Frank. We'll definitely do that."

At this point, Frank's pickup was already idling in front of Amelia's house. The two friends hugged and exchanged 'goodbyes' before she climbed out on the cab. Amelia watched sadly as Frank drove off. When his rusted old truck disapeared around the block, she shivered with disgust as she recalled the disturbingly appetizing smell she noticed when she hugged him and how inviting his pulse had sounded to her ears. She reached up to them slowly, feeling their pointed tips. Fighting a bubble of hysteria, she ran into the house, shoving passed her worried guardians without a word as she nearly sprinted up to her room. She slammed her bedroom door behind her with so much force that it rocked the very foundation of the house. She moved over to her bed so fast she seemed to have teleported from one side of the room to the other. She collapsed on her bed, sobbing. There was a quiet knock at the door several minutes later.

"Amelia…honey? Are you alright?" It was her Aunt that knocked at her door. "Can I come in?"

Amelia nodded, then, remembering that her Aunt didn't have X-ray vision, she voiced her consent.

The door opened slowly as her Aunt entered the room. She was dressed in her nightgown, for it after three in the morning. She sat on the bed beside Amelia. "Where's D?" She asked.

"We got in a fight." Amelia sniffled, wiping her eyes. "I had to call Frank to get a ride home." Though she wasn't surprised, she was still a little angry that D hadn't stopped by to explain things to her poor Aunt and Uncle.

"You mean he left you all alone?!" Her Aunt's face was flushed with rage. "Why if that man had a phone, I would call him right now and give him a piece of my mind!"

"It's fine." Amelia said, sitting up. "I deserved it. I said some things I shouldn't have."

"And he probably did too." Her Aunt scoffed. "That's not acceptable behavior!"

"No…he didn't say anything actually. The 'argument' was pretty one-sided actually. It was mainly me chewing him out."

"For what? Did he hurt you?" She was still mad at him. No matter what Amelia said, her Aunt would most likely hold D responsible.

"No…not on purpose anyway…" After reflecting on what he had said, Amelia realized that D was probably sincere. He had meant everything he had said.

"What's that supposed to mean, Amy? What happened? Did you two ever find your…er…father?"

"Uh…yeah. You could say that. Um…Auntie, why didn't you, or Charlie ever tell me anything?"

"We thought it was for the best." Mrs. West explained. "We kept you sheltered to protect you, not to hurt you. Your Uncle and I wanted you to have a normal childhood. We wanted you to be happy, and to honor your mother…your…_human blood_. I never wanted to tell you the truth because I thought you wouldn't be able to handle it."

Amelia chuckled slightly. "I probably wouldn't have believed you either. I'm surprised that you two agreed to take me in, knowing what I was."

Mrs. West smiled. "Well, it was mainly me…my sister did die giving birth to you and all. Charlie and I wanted kids but…well, you know that I can't have any. Both your grandparents were very old…we were the only family you had left. "

Neither of them spoke for a long while. Amelia lay back down on the bed and her Aunt stared out the window, giving Amelia time to think things over. All the while, Amelia was trying to form a picture of her mother in her head. She did this routinely before she went to sleep every night but no matter how hard she tried to remember her, the face always remained blank.

"Auntie?" She asked.

"Hmm?"

"What did mom look like?"

Mrs. West smiled. "Well, she looked a lot like you, except she had beautiful curly red hair – don't get me wrong, your hair is every bit as beautiful. You have her eyes. She was about your height, your build. She was always the prettiest. I used to envy her tremendously growing up."

"Oh…"

Mrs. West changed the subject. "So, you said that you met your father. How did it go?"

"Uh…well, he wasn't what I expected really." Amelia said. She went on to describe to her aunt an edited version of that night's affairs. Just like with Frank, she purposely left out the fact that he had tried to kill her and most of what he had said, out of fear of causing her poor Aunt further grief. She explained that things had escalated and gotten very heated and that D had killed her father while trying to defend her. They had planned to do away with him from the start, for her father was one of the many vampires who had lost their minds to the taste of human blood. Her Aunt nodded in understanding at this.

"I never liked him from the beginning." Mrs. West said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "He never seemed right to me, always gave me the creeps…I never knew why until your poor mother got pregnant. Perhaps that slimy creature is better off dead. I'm really sorry that we had to wait until it came to this before we explained anything to you."

Amelia smiled slightly. "What's done is done I guess…" She paused. A new question surfaced in her mind; a new problem that deserved immediate attention. She turned back to her aunt. Distress becoming the dominate feature on her porcelain face. "But, what am I going to do now? Even though he's dead, I still have half his blood! I can't go to school anymore, not while I'm changing! I-I want blood more than food…what-what if I kill someone? I wish I wasn't so scared…what are we going to do?"

Mrs. West couldn't answer her niece right away. Who could blame her? The conversation had to have been an uncomfortable subject for both of them. She clenched her eyes shut and shook her head slowly back and forth.

"I knew it would come to this…your uncle and I both knew and tried to prevent it as best as we could. That's why we made you take the red pills. They're blood capsules but they were only meant to be temporary. Now that you've reached this state, they won't do you any good."

Amelia noticed the tears that trickled down her Aunt's face. She felt a rush of guilt and anger. Guilt because of the pain she had unknowingly put her aunt and uncle through for all of her sixteen years, and the pain that she caused them now that she was transforming into a monster. She was dangerous to them, and that is what caused the anger. Anger directed at herself for being what she was, anger at her father for cursing her with the fate of being a half-blood and making her mother suffer, more anger at herself for being helpless. She clenched the hand that lay by her side into a tight fist.

"I have to go away," she said quietly. Her words were weak, like she was giving up all hope and will. "I've caused you both way too much pain already and only more will come if I continue to stay…I-I don't know where I'm going to go or what I'm going to do, but I'll find away to stop wanting human blood even if it costs me my life. I won't go to school anymore…I can't see Mina and Frank again. I'm so sorry for everything…I-"

Mrs. West, her face red with rage, interrupted her dejected neice. "Don't you even think for one moment that you're going to leave!" She said. Amelia looked up at her. Her eyes were wide with bewilderment. "You don't even know what you're talking about, child! None of that is true! Your uncle and I made a pledge to your mother, my sister, that we would watch and care for you no matter what! We knew from the get-go what we were up against and what you would eventually become, yet we _still_ vowed to support and nurture you in any way that we could! If I let you leave now, you and I would be a disgrace to your mother…and to D for that matter! I know _he_ would never be so weak-minded!"

Amelia opened her mouth to object, to say that D was irrelevant now and that she didn't give a rats-ass about what he did. She wanted to defy her Aunt, telling her that she was wrong and that for her safety, she had to go. Though she thought all of this and believed every word of it in her heart of hearts, Amelia couldn't bring herself to cause further debate. Closing her mouth, she nodded and sighed.

"I'm really tired." She said. Her mind was made up with a new resolve. "I think I'm going to go to bed…tell Charlie goodnight for me." Mrs. West reached over to hug her and Amelia hugged back fiercely. She knew it was the last hug she and her Aunt would ever share.

"I love you." Her Aunt sighed. "You've always been the best daughter I could ever ask for. Sometimes I forget that you're not my own."

Amelia's eyes clenched shut, holding back tears. A swell of emotion was lodged in her throat. "I love you too." She choked, "You and Uncle both."

They disengaged and Mrs. West now stood by the door. "Goodnight." She said sweetly, like a mother to her child.

"Goodbye." Amelia whispered, too quiet for her Aunt's human ears to hear.

* * *

_Oh geez...this story just keeps getting sadder and sadder......... _

_Please tell me what you think! I dont know about you guys, but I sort of feel like my writing is getting worse and worse as this story goes on. If you agree, please say so!_

_By the way, I'm thinking about going back and editing chapter 10 a little. I realized that if she got back to her family in the morning, then they should have some time to kill in between then and when they go hunt down her father. I was thinking it would be a good time for a fun scene or two between them...you know, bonding time? hahahaha! What do you think? Ja oder nein? Yes or no? _


	12. Warning!

So, this is kind of important….

A couple weeks ago, my computer had a freak out and completely shut down for about a week. We thought we'd have to get a new hard drive, but luckily we resurrected it…and luckily I backed up my story because our computer died again and now we have to get a new hard drive.

So, it will take about a week or two for the new hard drive to get here so it will be a while before I can write or post the next chapter.

Sorry for the wait!!!

[ALT3]


	13. Calm Before the Storm

_Hi again! I am soooo sorry about the wait! My computer died, as you all know, and its been a huge struggle to get it going again. There was a delay on the new harddrive and then when we finally got it, it wouldnt work and we needed a new operating system and then it took us a while to get that and then we had to put all the programs back on... *takes breath* but now it's finally alive and kicking and here's a new chapter! Enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer:** Still standing. I dont own VHD....unfortunately. _

* * *

Thunder rumbled across the blackened sky as ribbons of lightning connected heaven with earth. A great castle stood atop a heavily forested mountain in a region only acknowledged in fictional novels and legend; Transylvania.

Inside, a great room was filled with hundreds of thousands of elegantly dressed figures; men and women dressed in formal attire not seen since the Middle Ages. They all held an inhuman parlor and grace and held themselves with an air of pride and nobility. Elegant music poured from a small, richly decorated box that sat atop a table next to a great throne. The hall was alive with waltzing and laughter. Some were chatting off to the side of the dancers in groups, while others watched in ones and twos from afar. A few couples were found latched onto each other's necks, piercing their lover's white skin with elongated fangs and drinking from one another with a sick sort of passion.

One vampire, easily the most grand, stood at the foot of the great throne. He was surrounded by a group of inhumanly beautiful women and men; all of which shook his great white hand and looked onto him with great admiration. One woman, also extravagantly dressed in a beautiful white evening gown, stood out from the group. Standing at the grand vampire's side faithfully, she was smaller in stature and though still pale, her skin possessed a pinkish hue unlike anyone else in the room. Her large eyes were a bright blue, standing out from the usual crimson. Some of the vampires standing at the side whispered in each other's ears, occasionally shooting glances in her direction. She drew closer to her husband's side, obviously uncomfortable with the stares she was given by the rest of the group; especially the women. The kingly vampire laid a strong hand on her quivering shoulder.

With a wave of his hand, the group disbanded and left the unusual couple alone. Taking a step up to the throne, the vampire king extended a hand from his large black cape.

"Come." He said. Though it was a command, it was said softly and gently with all the love in the world. The woman's cheeks flushed red and she extended her delicate hand, letting it become enveloped by his. With a flick of his free hand, the musical box stopped playing. The hall was filled with silence.

"Welcome." He said, though his voice was at the volume used for normal conversation, it reached the highly receptive eardrums of every vampire in the great room. His eyes were a bright red, brighter than the rest and his long black hair was tied back with a red ribbon. The garment he wore was a grand black cape laced with gold. His clothes underneath were red and black and equally as elegant. The vampire was none other than Dracula. His welcome was greeted with an awed silence.

"My fellow scientists and philosophers," He began. "I thank each and every one of you for coming to this momentous event in history. These last two hundred years have been nothing short of hell. After thousands of years of rule, our race has fallen to that of another. No matter how much we all might wish to deny it, through their rapidly improving sciences and technology, the human race has nearly pushed ours into oblivion."

A tide of angry murmurs reached his ears, but with the raise of his hand, the Sacred Ancestor was able to regain his audience's attention. After a moment's pause, he resumed his speech.

"Though, due to their imperfect and violent natures, the human race has turned on its self. With the splitting of nations, they have led themselves to many wars, and inevitable destruction. The dawn of such destruction has certainly fallen upon them and in its wake, we shall be given a chance at redeeming our race and former glory."

Cheers and applause interrupted the Sacred Ancestor's speech, though the great vampire showed no signs of irritation. At another raise of his hand, all was silent.

"Thanks to our superior science and technology, we have calculated the human's fate and reached an inescapable conclusion. The conclusion being that in order to establish true peace in this world, our magnificent race must rise to the challenge and take charge, or else the human race will bring down the world, along with us. When the Eastern and Western human nations fire their missiles, we will stand in wait, mighty and prepared to rule the world with our superiority and strength, though all of you be warned for transient guests are we. Let us all understand that civilizations are temporary and doomed to eventual failure and we, as great as our race may be, are no such exception."

A confused silence enveloped the hall. There was no clapping or cheering, yet no one in the audience had dared to disagree with the vampire king. Without a break in his composure, Dracula let out a grand sweep of his cape, descending from his throne. A slow waltz began to flow from the music box and Dracula helped his wife down to the floor.

"My guests, please continue the party and excuse my beautiful wife and I for a moment."

At these words from their great lord, the guests began to dance to the music, though without the same vigor from earlier. Dracula and his human wife departed, ascending a great staircase.

Outside, a small boy of five years sat on the rooftop of the great castle. Strands of long black hair swirled around his porcelain-white face, coming loose from the loose ponytail he wore. Despite the biting wind and snow, the boy was wearing attire appropriate for indoors. His dress was far from modern. The white sleeves of his shirt were large and baggy in the arms, coming to a cuff at the wrist. Besides the sheer fabric of the shirt, a black vest was all that protected him against the elements.

* * * * *

Amelia stared out across the football field at the remnants of her former life. She stood in the small grove of trees on the school property that kids often escaped to, to smoke weed. From that grove, the same spot that D had watched her from a week ago, Amelia watched Mina and Frank eating their lunch under their special tree.

It had been three days since the night she said goodbye to her aunt and uncle. After making sure they had both retired to their bedroom, she reached into her dresser, pulling out a scrap of stationary. She quickly scribbled a letter of thanks and apology and set it gently on her pillow. She had said that she had to go away for a while to "sort things out", which was the truth; though she knew that she wouldn't be ready to show her face in the human world for a long time, perhaps even after her guardians had passed. Then, dressing in as many clothes that would keep her warm and a small amount of money, she fled out her bedroom window. Pushing thoughts of her Aunt and Uncle and D into the farthest corners of her mind, she ran.

That was Saturday night. She spent the following three days in the forest miles away from the city. She had originally wanted to seek out D for his help, but then, knowing that he would only turn her away with another cold remark, she pushed him out of her mind too. As the sun rose Sunday morning, she watched the birds and squirrels around her, her vision tinted red with bloodlust. She would not give in. Her father's blood would not kill her mother, who also lived within her. As the morning turned to midday and midday turned to evening, her thirst for blood grew stronger and stronger until she soon grew mad. She often broke out into crazed frenzies; screaming and writhing with the pains of hunger. When Monday rolled around, Amelia had turned into a savage. Cowering against a tree trunk, she lost control when a rabbit happened to cross her path; scampering franticly across the snow-covered ground for food. Lashing out faster than the speed of sound, she snatched the rabbit and sank her elongated fangs into its small throat. Her thirst far from quenched, she hunted more and more small creatures until a small pile of animal corpses had accumulated at her side by evening. She felt content, for a while at least, until a more familiar hunger returned for the first time in days. She needed food; human food. Realizing that she was still partially human, she was obligated to feed the diets of two creatures. While she could still eat food like a normal human, she would have to slake her thirst for blood when the need arose. With this new understanding, she was happier than she had been in weeks. Jumping and singing with joy, she dashed back into the city with impossible speed.

The first place she went was her former school. When she arrived at the front of the school, she saw students wandering around the campus and eating on the benches. Keeping on the sidewalk away from the school she ran around to the back of the school where the football and soccer fields were and where her friends ate lunch. She stood in the small grove of trees across from the fields. Mina and Frank sat under their special tree. There was someone else with them; a boy. He and Frank were holding hands. The boy was laughing as he fed Frank a piece of his sandwich. The boy let out a yelp as Mina launched a snow ball at his face. She wanted to run to them and laugh and eat with them like they did just a week before but something stopped her from leaving the cover of the trees to join the small snowball fight. Somehow she knew that no matter how much human food she ate and how long they talked, things would never be the same. She knew that her life had changed the moment she had woken on the other side of the freeway the morning after D had stopped her from "sleepwalking" that one night. Though it had only been a week ago, it felt like years had gone by since that first incident. She heard the buzz of the school bell and watched as her old friends and the other boy rose and wandered back into the school with the other normal teenagers. Fighting back tears, she ran from the school and the memories of her human life for forever.

The best thing she could do, she thought, was to make herself disappear. She would leave Chicago; the city she had been born in and lived in and loved her whole life. She would take or destroy everything that might bring memories of her to the people she loved. They were mortal, unlike her, and she knew that they would soon forget her and move on. _If they live…_ this thought surfaced in her head often as she was constantly reminded that, according to D, this war would bring the world to an end.

At the bank, she withdrew all the money in her savings account. She didn't need to save for college because she wouldn't have the chance to go to one and she didn't need money for retirement because she would never grow old. With a couple thousand dollars in her purse, she left the bank. _How am I going to get away from here?_ She thought. Leaving the city had always sounded like an impossibility. Being sixteen, she wasn't old enough to buy a car, or even rent one. Where would she go? She wanted to be alone; somewhere without people. Even these days, even the country was populated and in only the harshest mountain ranges and deserts would she ever find complete solitude. Then it hit her, the Great Plains; large, flat, desolate, and scarcely populated. The small farms and one-street towns that dotted the never-ending grassland wouldn't be a problem and she would be able to acquire a car one way or another. She boarded a lonely Greyhound bus and sat in the back, picking the farthest back seat she could get. She didn't look out the window once as she left the sprawling city.

* * * * *

D strode out of a small convenience store. The dry desert wind whipped at his face and his long black hair and coat swirled around him in the breeze. It had been three days since he left Amelia alone in the snow, and from that night since, he had been traveling. With a crumpled piece of paper in his hands, he leaned against the side of his black motorbike. His brow furrowed slightly as he deciphered the message.

"Gosh, it's been a long time since I've heard anything in Spanish!" his left hand said. It sounded almost exhausted. "Can you translate it?"

"I think so." D mumbled.

"So…what's the verdict?"

"We have to get to an airport."

"What?!" His left hand exclaimed, "more travel?!"

"I thought you'd be used to this by now."

"Well…yeah but at least back home you knew where you were going and we didn't need to travel across half a continent before we realized that we should have been on our way to another country."

"Enough."

"Alright, fine. I suppose that after a couple thousand years, even someone like _you_ could forget their world geography."

"We don't have a lot of time." D said, his voice was as cool as ever. "I need to find _him_. It's the only way-"

"Everything happens for a reason D." His left appendage said. This time it's normally teasing voice was as serious as D's. "You can't change the course of history. This world is going to end no matter what you do…even if you kill _him_. If you change history now, 12090 will be completely different when you return…it might now even be around at all. Maybe all this is for the best."

"What do you mean _it's for the best_?" D growled between clenched teeth. They were on the road again, this time speeding north towards Huston, Texas. For the first time in years, his icy exterior was cracking and his true sorrowful and resentful feelings were showing through. "Millions of innocent people are about to die and no one knows but me! I wasn't able to stop this before, but now I finally have a chance to kill _Him_ and undo everything that's happened in the past millennia. For the first time I can set things right. How could you possibly-"

The hand interrupted him again. "Let it go, D." It said, almost whispering. Its hoarse voice sounded wise and wary. "Just let it go."

A silence fell upon the pair. It was a silence that could only be shared amongst the most trusting friends; the deepest respect. Though the creature in D's left hand was often teasing and a general annoyance, it was obvious that the bond they shared was of the deepest understanding. Through all the battles they had fought and the thousands of years they spent attached; reading each other's feelings and thoughts and occasionally using them against each other as blackmail, the odd pair had developed a sense of respect and understanding between them that put even the strongest brotherhood to shame. As abusive as his hand was to him, in its heart of hearts it truly cared for D, as D did for it.

"So…where are we going exactly?" The hand asked. It's voice was back to its usual carefree cheer.

"Romania." D said. All signs of any previous emotion were gone. With this one word, an unsettling atmosphere fell over the pair. It was one of foreboding and dread. For the first time in thousands of years, they would see their home land.

* * *

_Well there you go! Even though it always seems like D and his hand cant stand eachother, I believe that they actually deeply care about eachother. I love those two so much! _

_On another note, I now need to find my USB drive because while my laptop was down, I worked on this fic on my parents computer....but I lost it. Life hates me I swear. Eventually I will finish this damn thing if it takes me the rest of my life._


	14. A Simple Twist of Fate

_Chapter 13! Thankyou everyone for your generous reviews! They are mucho appriciated. ;] I am currently writing chapter 14 (I've been working on it for over a month so it better turn out good...). It looks like it will be a really really long chapter so I might have to split it in into 2 chapters...which would suck because I was counting on chapter 14 being the second to last chapter....oh well. Please read and enjoy! _

* * *

Dark, thick clouds collected on the horizon and Amelia speed fearlessly towards them in an old 1950's Ford pickup she had bought from an old farmer and his wife. The rusty mechanical beast clunked and groaned as she coaxed it over sixty miles per hour. Her green eyes had dulled since she left her Aunt and Uncle – Though they were still an unusually bright shade of green, they were lacking in the glowing luster they had before. Her new eyes stared straight at the thousands of miles of road ahead of her. The landscape around her was featureless - The sheer flatness was maddening. Small farm houses and large fields of livestock and dead corn and wheat were all there was for miles. To the small, one-street towns she passed through, she was nobody; a stranger. No one questioned her coming, her purpose, where she was going, or who she was. She was virtually unnoticed – simply a ghost haunting the highways of the Great Plains.

Amelia pulled up to a pump at a small gas station off the highway. She paid for her gas at the counter and thanked the heavy-set old man in overalls at the register.

"No problem little lady." He beamed. "Where're ya off to?"

"Oh, no where in particular," Amelia replied. Her tone was light and nonchalant.

The old man smiled and nodded. Amelia noted how the skin around his wise blue eyes crinkled when he smiled. She even envied the deep folds of skin on his cheeks and neck – signs of age that she would never acquire. A strong gust of wind from outside caused the light bulb that hung from the ceiling by strands of copper wire to flicker. The old farmer grimaced.

"Looks like a storm's coming." He said gravely. "Better be getting' yourself someplace safe and warm there missy."

Amelia thanked the kind old man again before departing the store. Outside, her old truck's engine rumbled to life and with a full tank of gas, she headed East.

Amelia drove on and on through the night like a women possessed. She had no idea where she would go or what she would do when she got there but for now her goal was to drive to the coast, board a plane and travel as far east as she could. As she drove she thought of all the places she wanted to see as a child; the Eiffel Tower, Venice, the great Pyramids of Egypt, China's Great Wall, Moscow. A new destination popped into her mind; Transylvania – the perfect place for a monster like her. She wondered if Dracula was a real vampire and not just a famous urban legend.

_Maybe he could help me…_ she thought. Her fantasies were slowly becoming a plan in her mind as she dwelled more and more on the magical land of Romania.

She arrived in New York at three in the morning. At the airport, she purchased a one-way ticket to Constanta, Romania. She had no idea how close Constanta was to Bran, but it was the only flight she could find that went to Romania. Her flight would leave at ten in the morning. Without anything better to do, she settled herself down in one of the many available seats in the waiting area near her Gate.

* * *

The streets of Houston, Texas were scarcely populated in the early hours of the morning. D left the stolen motorcycle in the bottom floor of Houston International Airport's immense multi-level parking garage. He had felt an odd sort of attachment to the black bike and was somewhat reluctant to leave it behind.

"What a shame." His left hand agreed with his thoughts as the inseparable beings entered an elevator that would take them to the actual airport. "That was a nice bike. Hey, maybe we could buy one like it in Europe and take it with us!"

D purchased a ticket for Rasnov, Romania; the biggest city near Bran. He realized that this was the first time he'd seen his home country in ages.

_Have you even left home yet?_ The parasite's voice echoed in his head. At the same time, a female voice on a loud speaker announced the arrival of their flight. D and a small amount of people boarded the plane. It was still very early in the morning – scarcely three AM.

"No…" D answered his hand out loud, but in a tone too low for human ears to hear. He allowed a sorrowful expression surface on his beautiful, placid face as he recalled some memory of his childhood that was ironically taking place at this very time.

_Oh…that's right. It would be hilarious if you ran into yourself when you got there…just imagine what the old man is gonna say! Ahhh this is going to be great!_

While the parasite was excited, D was not. He was dreading this trip more than anything else in the world, but honestly, where else could he go? Leaning his forehead against the thick Plexiglas window of the airplane in a very human-like gesture, he watched the clouds and the passing landscape bellow.

* * *

_It was dark. _

_Pitch black._

_Even with her enhanced senses, Amelia could see nothing. Reaching out into the inky blackness that was almost tangible, her hand found the hard, rough surface of a wall. The coarse surface was interrupted by a patchwork of fissures. _

_The wall was made of bricks. _

_There was a pale light in the distance now. She was in a long stone hallway. It was dank and damp and puddles of water were scattered along the floor, some of which were quite large. There were many turns and other hallways branching off of the one she traveled. She was lost. Every turn she took only lead her to a dead end and she soon lost the main path. _

_It was a labyrinth. _

_Hysteria built inside her. She was running now through the twisting hallways. _

_She was losing her mind. _

_A door appeared. _

_A door at the end of the hallway. _

_She ran to it and frantically pulled at the handle. It wasn't locked. The door gave no resistance and flew open, and she, not anticipating it to give, fell head first into the room. _

_It was large and dimly lit. _

_In the center on a slight raise sat a coffin. Trimmed with silver around the edges, it was a glossy black. In the coffin, she stared at her horrifying reflection. _

_Her eyes were all black – even the whites of them gone. Her face was gaunt and pale as if she hadn't fed in weeks; blood or food. Her thick black hair was matted and hung around her face in tangles. Her clothes – all white – were stained with crimson smears; blood. _

"_Amy-" a disembodied voice croaked feebly. _

"_D!" Amelia tried to yell, seeing his broken, defeated form at the base of the coffin, but when she opened her dry lips, no words came out. _

_A white hand fell upon her shoulder. Amelia screamed. When she tried to turn, the hand tightened its iron grip. She couldn't move. _

"_Hello." A deep, seductive voice much like D's purred. It's tone was mocking and slightly amused. "Have you come to rescue my son?" _

_Manic laughter echoed off the high walls as Amelia stared, mouth agape, at D's corpse…._

Amelia jerked awake. It was 9:30 and the terminal had become quite busy. She looked all around her – left and right and sighed with relief. It was only a dream. She checked her ticket. Her flight would arrive in half an hour. Stretching, Amelia rose from her seat and decided to walk around the airport to kill time. Her stomach growled. She was hungry for human food this time. Feeling a wave of relief, glad that it wasn't human blood she hungered for, she bought a muffin and coffee at one of the many food stands. She stood as she ate, watching the incoming flights on the arrival board, watching her plane bump lower and lower down the list of flights.

She felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach – nerves. She couldn't believe what she was doing. Was she actually pursuing Dracula – the most legendary vampire in history? She didn't know if he was even real. Her flight was only minutes away. Amelia moved to the customs section with the tide of human beings.

* * *

_DUH! DUH! DUH! _

_uuuuuuuuuugh! Chapter 14 is being a slut. It's really really difficult to write...oh well. this one was too a little bit. It'll work out. cheers! =D_


	15. It's The End of the World As We Know It

_WHEW! This stinker is finally finished! I thought that this one could be the second to last but this one was getting really long and I think I still have another chapter's worth of stuff before I can wrap up this part. I apologize beforehand about the choppiness of this chapter and the rapid-fire switches of POV's. It was very difficult to write but I hope you like it all the same. _  
_Peace!_

* * *

On an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic, a young airline pilot sat at his station at the radar. A red dot came onto the screen from the East. It continued to come closer, and closer. It sent no radio signals or any sign of acknowledgement, as if it didn't want to be discovered. With a look of panic on his face, the young man turned around in his chair to alert the thick set man pacing nearby.

"General Taylor?" The youthful voice of a young air force pilot asked from his seat at the radar. "We have a foreign aircraft coming in at 12 O'clock sir; possibly armed."

"What kind of craft?" The General asked, leaning over the young pilot's seat.

"Soviet, sir."

"Hmm…this side of the Atlantic is off limits to them. They know that…and come to think of it we haven't had a word from Russia about negotiations or sending representatives, or anything of any sort."

"Could it be an attack, sir?"

"Very likely…I should consult our commander and chief about this."

Minutes later, in Washington DC, a telephone rang at the President's desk. President Clinton picked up the black telephone. It was General Taylor on the U.S.S Independence. A suspicious Soviet aircraft had been spotted in the Atlantic on the wrong side of the line. Not wanting to be too quick to jump to conclusions, Clinton instructed a secretary to consult the Department of Foreign Affairs to send a radio message out to the Soviet Union questioning the trespassing of a Soviet aircraft on enemy lines. Though the radio operator had gotten a hold of the Russian War Department, the Russian radio operators refused to answer and immediately shut off the dispatch. Interpreting this news to be signs of a threat to the United States of America, President Bill Clinton phoned General Taylor with one precise order;

"Fire the missiles." He said gravely.

* * *

D arrived in Bran, Transylvania late in the afternoon. The scene presented before him was shocking. The tiny Transylvanian village was drastically different than he remembered. The roads were wide and paved and motorized vehicles and the ancient little town had grown larger and more populous since he seen it last. Even though the newer buildings were built to match the old Bavarian style of the older structures, the little Medieval village of his early childhood held no similarity to this. D could speak the old language easily enough. The familiarity of it was buried deep into his subconscious. He would never forget it. It was almost comforting to be able to speak the rough Germanic language once again. Immediately he sought after one who could lead him to Bran Castle.

No motorized vehicles could go near the giant, looming castle on the mountain. The only way to reach the top was to travel by ancient horse-drawn carriages. D was not surprised to find that the villager's fear of the great castle was still quite apparent even in this scientific age. After a four hour's search of the village, D could find no one who would even consider taking him to the castle. He learned that strange activity had been occurring within the castle walls once more. Numerous unsolved disappearances had occurred over the past decade. Every victim had been a young girl; a virgin, and over the past month, the rate of disappearances had nearly doubled. The town's people were beginning to panic. Fathers and mothers sent their young adolescent girls off to boarding schools around Europe to prevent their inevitable abduction. The cursed town of Bran knew that a great dark power was about to be unleashed but the skeptical citizens were lost as to what it could be. The curse of Dracula was simply a myth to them used to lure tourists to the otherwise unprofitable area.

Buying a horse from a nearly bankrupt riding shop in the town; D road up the winding roads towards the great vampire king's lair. For the first time in 10,092 years, he was going _home_.

* * *

With scarcely three years of German behind her, Amelia knew enough to survive the midday crowd at the bustling Romanian airport in Constanta. Outside, on the unfamiliar foreign streets, Amelia was lost. She'd never traveled outside of the United States, and she was unsure of what to do in a foreign setting such as this. With the only interactions she'd ever had with foreign languages being her German class at Kenwood Academy and her boisterous Italian neighbor with whom she had heard her Uncle confront many times about his habit of letting his old gray dog relieve itself in their yard, she timidly asked around for directions to a bus station or possible cab with rudimentary German. Most of the people she spoke to and overheard spoke either straight German or a language that closely represented German or Austrian with a different dialect, so she didn't have too much trouble finding a Taxi that would take her to the rural village of Bran.

"Uhh…Darfst du mich bitte nach Bran fahren?" Amelia asked the Taxifahrer. She was terrified of using improper grammar or saying the wrong thing but the brown haired youth behind the wheel seemed to understand her well enough. He chuckled at her American accent.

"I can speak English, you know." He said with a heavy Germanic accent. He wore an amused smile on his handsome face. "You come from America, correct?"

Amelia climbed into the back seat of the Taxi. "Yeah. Chicago." She said as she closed the vehicle's door. The engine came to life as she spoke and they pulled into the traffic, driving on the left side of the road as they drove away.

"Chicago, huh? That's a big city…what's a girl from Chicago doing in Constanta?"

"I'm an…uh…exchange student."

"In Bran? You should have gone to Rasnov airport. Much closer to your destination. Bran's a little far. I can't really drive you all the way there, but I can take you to the train station if that is not an inconvenience."

"Oh…right." Amelia said, pretending that she knew better. "I-I'm sorry. Yeah, the train station will be fine. Thanks."

"Kein Problem!" He said lightly. The car pulled to a stop. "We are here. That will be fifteen Euro." Amelia turned to gaze out the window at the large old-fashioned train station before her.

"Uh…I only have American money." Amelia said sheepishly. "Do you take American credit cards?"

"If you have paper money that would be easier. That will be twenty one dollars and thirty four cents American."

Amelia paid in cash and thanked the Taxifahrer again before leaving for Constanta's train station; _Gara Constanta_. Upon entering, she purchased her ticket with the remainder of her money and boarded the next train to Bran. The Romanian countryside sped by her Plexiglas window as the great mechanical snake traveled northward. As she stared out the window, memories of her strange dream in the airport surfaced in her mind, causing her to gasp out loud. Disturbing as her dream was, none of it made an ounce of sense. What on earth was D doing in Dracula's castle? It suddenly occurred to her that in her dream Dracula, if that was the man who appeared behind her, had called D his _son_. If this were true then why would he harm him and why would D need rescuing? All hostility she had harbored towards the Hunter in black melted instantly. Wishing that the train would move faster, she prayed to whatever supernatural being existed that D would be alive when she finally arrived.

* * *

Meanwhile, the thundering screech of jet engines shattered the serene silence of the blue Atlantic sky as a cavalry of bombers and fighter planes flew towards the sprawling Americas at frightful speeds unreachable not even fifty years previous. Officers and their subordinates communicated over radios in a foreign tongue. With a whistling noise in their wake, atomic bombs dropped from their compartments on the aircraft's bellies at the word of high ranking officers.

A farmer sat on a rusted old tractor with a cigarette hanging from the corner of his sagging mouth. His breath made visible by the chilly December air mixed with the smoke from his camel cigarette as he gazed onto the horizon and the city skyline that lay on it. His eyes squinted, causing already existing wrinkles to fold on themselves as he struggled to comprehend what he saw. There was the faint sound of an impact and a mushroom cloud of black smoke appeared on the horizon. A wave of atomic energy rushed across the flat, barren landscape at hundreds of miles a second in a circular radius around the area of impact. The world instantly became soundless as a wave of pure heat and radiation energy blew the very molecular structure of the farmer, tractor, field, and house to dust. Hundreds of miles away in New York, news reporters scrambled to capture the destruction as crowds watched in horror as the Statue of Liberty crumbled into New York harbor. Metropolises and urban communities alike fell prey to the falling mass death-shower; their inhabitants were charred black, but most perished before the wave of heat even hit. It was the pure energy of the bomb's soundwave that wrought the initial destruction upon the land. All across the American continent, the sky was bathed in red from New York city to Seattle, from Phoenix to New Orleans as the nuclear bombs fell upon the land of the free.

American allies responded to the destruction of their brother. In response to frantic messages sent from the White House, the leaders of the allied nations responded to the Soviet's assault. Bombs went off on a global scale; Japan fired at China, the United Kingdom fired at France, Africa and the Middle East turned into a hurricane of war due to pent up hatred between and even inside country borders that existed since European explorers colonized and upset their traditional tribal boundaries. The world's end had come, and throughout the destruction, grand, pale beings emerged from mountain tops and the ocean's depths to look with joy upon the destruction of the human civilization.

* * *

The train had reached the tiny village of Bran, Transylvania. As Amelia's feet touched the ancient, legend-filled earth, she saw red fire on the horizon. Her enhanced Damphir hearing could pick-up the sound of exploding bombs in the distance.

_Oh my god._ She thought as she broke into a frantic run through the Bavarian streets. _Oh my god, it's here! _

She searched through the ancient streets for the distinguishable man wearing a long black coat and wide-brimmed hat. After many minutes of searching and asking astonished passerby if they had seen the unusually dressed but undeniably gorgeous man in black but to her dismay they either could not understand her or had not seen him. Running into the Tourist Information building – the only sign in English – she asked for directions to Bran castle. The answers she received were maddeningly unhelpful. Tourist season closed. Strange disappearances in the town and odd occurrences within the castle had forced the town to close off all access to the legendary landmark for the safety of the individual and the town. Distraught, Amelia left. Walking west, she came to a long, dark dirt road leading out of the town and up a steep slope. She was certain that this was the way. The roar of a jet engine caused her to look to the sky. A military plane passed overhead. Running over to a nearby business, Amelia jacked a gray convertible from the parking lot.

_Stupid of them to leave the top down in the winter…_ She thought as she sped up the mountain pass to the dark, looming castle up ahead.

* * *

D's eyes met a shocking scene when he reached Bran Castle's front steps. The giant medieval dwelling was exactly as it had been when he was a child thousands of years previous…though that was to be expected because technically D _was_ back _when_ he was a child thousands of years ago and he knew that somewhere in the confines of the fortress's walls, he was somewhere as a small ten year old boy. This thought is one that could drive any lesser person to insanity or even suicide; however D simply let the thought slip from his mind as easily as it had come.

"There's something not right about this place…" his left hand muttered in a low voice heard by D alone. "I'm getting this cold feeling all over. There's a strong presence here…many of them. D, what is this?"

D, however, did not respond as he ignored the castle door and commenced walking around the castle's perimeter as if he was searching for something.

"D?" His left hand asked. "D…um, hate to break it to ya' but the door's that way…D?"

D halted and stooped down to a crouch. Kneeling down, he dug a hole in the dirt with his bare hands. He cut through the hard clay as if it were merely soft butter and in less than five minutes he had dug a hole six feet in diameter and six feet deep. At the bottom of the pit lay a stone slab riddled with inscriptions in a foreign writing.

"Well you really are something…" his left hand remarked. His praise was slightly muffled by the stone slab as D preceded to lift it, ignoring the fact that his hand was speaking. A pitch black void lie at the Hunter's feet. The slab was leaned against the pit's earthen wall. For a mere second the Hunter stood looking into the black hole, judging it's depth, then without warning, the Hunter's body went into action and he plunged feet-first into the black chasm.

It had taken a full minute before D's feet touched the cold stone floor. Looking straight up from under his wide-brimmed hat, D silently eyed the tiny rectangle of blue above. The hole that had been exactly six feet by three feet could now be covered by the tip of a thumb. A single torch was fastened to a stone wall by an iron bracket twisted into the shape of a gargoyle's hideous face. D ignored the torch, being able to see well enough without it due to his vampiric blood. D put a black booted foot forward, and proceeded down the narrow, twisting labyrinth. There were many turns and other smaller halls that branched off the main path; going on to branch out into smaller and smaller corridors like branches off a tree. In the back of his mind D knew this, and knowing better than anyone where the smaller one's would eventually lead, he kept to the main path. He felt a presence near him; it's aurora surrounding him like mist.

_That presence…there's something about it…_ the hoarse voice of D's left hand echoed in his mind. _You're memory of it is ingrained into your blood…such strong feelings…I can almost taste them. It's _him_ isn't it?_ _His presence surrounds you where ever you go. It's buried deep, etched into your very DNA. I've never met the man before myself but I _know_ it's him. Just the mere _thought_ of him causes your veins to tingle. _

D's right hand instinctively flew to his sword; though he didn't draw his blade, his hand stayed at the ready. A hint of red flashed across his irises for a second before fading to their usual lifeless gray. His blood raced as his immortal heart pumped his blood faster, faster. Adrenaline secreted from glands, adding itself to the mix. D's normally dormant canines elongated into a vampire's sharp fangs. Suddenly, a massive explosion sounded from a above and D's body leapt ten feet in the air as the ancient foundation of the castle lurched in response to the exploding atomic bomb nearby.

* * *

_Gah! you see what I mean?! If you have any pointers or corrections to make this chapter easier on the human brain, please say so. In the meantime, chapter 15 wont be nearly as hard to write so hopefully I will have it up soon. _

_cheers  
_


	16. The Quiet Place

_THIS BABY IS FINISHED! Woooo! *rips of clothes and does happy dance around room* I've never finished a story in my whole existence, but here it is right now! A finished fic! Happy me! Despite how long I've been working on this thing (it's been years though I didn't decide to put it up until recently), I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Even though Dracula's castle is nothing like it was described in the novel Dracula, for some reason I always thought that Dracula's castle would be very beautiful and full of ancient treasures. Either that, or the castle is an illusion and you only see what you expect. I hope this chapter makes you as happy and satisfied as it makes me.  
_

_The old disclaimer still stands. I do not own VHD.  
_

* * *

With a spray of slush and snow in the wake of the spinning rear wheels, Amelia slammed on the brakes in a jolted stop ten feet from Bran Castle. Running up the steps to the front door, she paused with her hand on the handle. The black double doors were enormous; reaching a height of roughly ten feet. The door that owned the handle she had reached towards was held slightly ajar, allowing a sliver of the castle's interior show through. Amelia extended her hand forward, fingers extended to their maximum as they cautiously approached the door. The great door swung inward with a feather light touch of her finger. Perplexed as to how such a large and thick wooden door could possibly be moved with such little pressure, Amelia put a cautious foot inside. Even though it was winter and a cover of snow blanketed the hill on which the ancient structure sat, a chilly gust met her body upon her entry. The chill was drafty, one could even describe it as musty. It wasn't so much the chill that made her shiver, for she was already numb with cold from the freezing Transylvanian winter, but the disturbing aurora that came with it that assailed her body, causing shivers to rush down her spine and her very blood to freeze. Half of her natural instincts, her human ones she presumed, told her to turn back, flee, run for her very life, while the other half told her that there was nothing to fear. Which impulse should she listen too? Obeying her vampric instincts, but not completely forgetting her human senses which desperately tried to warn her of danger, she preceded to enter the threshold of the castle. The heavy doors groaned as they slammed shut behind her. Warning signs sounded off in her head, pleading her to acknowledge the danger she sensed, but Amelia paid them no heed as she continued on through the desolate castle.

The room that was revealed before her upon her entry was an immense, cavernous hall. Towards the back sat a great throne-like chair set against the backdrop of an enormous winding stone staircase that lead to who knew how many floors and rooms. Amelia tilted her head back to observe the ceiling. Her mouth fell agape in awe. A giant crystal chandelier hung from the center of it. It was the biggest, most impressive light fixture she'd ever seen. There must have been over one thousand candles hidden throughout it's gold frame. Crystals dripped like icicles, some extending down several feet. _Wow…_ she thought. It was the only word she could possibly use to describe the antique chandelier's unmatched beauty. Finally ungluing her wide eyes from the spectacle, her gaze flickered to the floor as she began to move forward, and once again she halted and found her eyes fixed to yet another architectural masterpiece. The whole floor of the hall was a mosaic. Though the paint was faded and the art was all but rubbed from the stones in some places, the floor's charm was not lost to the young Damphir girl. Mimicking the stained glass windows of Cathedrals, the stone floor was painted to depict beautiful angels with their powder white wings and harps confronting hordes of demons and evil entities of all sorts, all of which were horrendous and ugly in appearance. The graphic medieval battle scene was bordered with inscriptions writing in an ancient tongue and it's dark violence was toned down with other magnificent depictions.

Amelia continued on, taking her time to observe everything. This castle was an archeologist's dream; filled with the finest works of all ages, it was truly a wonder to behold. She had completely forgotten about the approaching bombers and the fact that D was in possible danger in the very same building. Her fingers brushed the magnificent stained glass windows, caressed the delicate vases made of gold, clay, silver, and copper, and fingered the large tapestries that hung on nearly every wall. Though the door to every room was locked from the inside, she was not discouraged in the slightest. The hallways alone were enough to keep her occupied for a lifetime, and they probably would if the bombing raids hadn't arrived. But arrive they did. Pausing at a particularly gorgeous golden vase that's handle had been worked to the shape of an eagle head, Amelia lifted the priceless object off of its stool. She examined its craftsmanship, tracing every line and curve with her index finger. She was utterly absorbed when a thunderous boom sounded, startling her. Though the blast was relatively far away, the sound wave had managed to travel the distance of hundreds of miles and still was loud enough to cause Amelia to drop the antique vase in surprise. The vase clattered against the floor. Then, the shock wave hit. As Amelia hurriedly bent to gather the vase from the floor, every window in the hall had shattered, glass exploding inward from the force of the blast. Amelia looked out the window at the vast expanse of forest. On the horizon, a wave of heat was catching the trees on fire faster than the speed of sound. Possessing great speed of her own, Amelia took off down the hallway at twice the speed of sound, avoiding the deadly radiation blast by taking cover behind an unlocked door and pressing herself against the invincible stone wall. She sighed with relief. Her legs gave out and she slid slowly down the wall to the floor.

"Man, that was close…" She panted, closing her eyes.

_Indeed it was, my dear. _A deep, low voice echoed in her head. The voice sounded familiar, though she knew she had never met its owner. With a sharp gasp, her green eyes snapped open and she jumped to her feet instantaneously.

"Who's there?!' She asked, franticly searching the room with her eyes.

There was a low chuckle from nowhere in particular. The sound reverberated around the room, seeming to come from every direction. It echoed throughout the room and in her mind. Amelia continued to sweep the room with her eyes, moving away from the wall to search the room in confusion for the hidden being. She could find no one.

"Who are you?" She asked, though she was stricken with fear, her voice betrayed nothing. _Although I've never met him before, he sounds so familiar…wait a minute…that's impossible._

The laughter came again. _No, _The voice's amused voice echoed in her head while the laughter continued on in the room. It was a very disorienting and maddening experience. Unable to endure anymore, Amelia's senses went into overload. Groaning, she clutched the sides of her head. She was driven to her knees, _Improbable maybe but certainly not impossible. My son is but a child at the moment though I sense a strong presence much like it. It is him. I know it. He's here not as a boy but as a grown man…and quite powerful at that. _Triumphant laughter danced around the room. _My experiment! My one success! How delightful…_

"W-what do you mean _my experiment_?"

The voice did not answer her question, but continued on with its own musings. _You're another half-breed, hm? And not of my own creation. Ah, you must be Marcus's daughter. How delightful. Your father and I were quite close, you know. It's a shame about your mother, though it's typical for the human mother to die upon giving birth to a half-breed._ The voice chuckled again. _It really does seem that we are the superior race…_

"D-Dracula!" Amelia stuttered, taking a step back upon realizing the speaker's identity. Though, moving backwards didn't do her any good for the owner of the voice seemed to be everywhere at once.

_Yes…that is my name. Though I would much prefer it if a lowly teenage half-breed such as you called me Count- _Another blast shook the castle. Bits of ceiling began to crumble and rain down upon Amelia and books and vases slid off their shelves, creating a deafening din.

"Where are you?!" She shouted above the clamor.

_You don't need to shout. Even a whisper will suffice...or you don't even need to talk at all. Simply reach out with your mind. Telepathic communication should be easy for you. My son is mastering that very technique and he's only eight years old. Such a talented little boy…I just knew he'd grow up to do extraordinary things…though his eventual profession is one that I rather dislike. But I suppose that can't be helped. _

"What? Wait a minute, how do you know that D's a-?"

The Count's voice interrupted her, echoing in her head and cutting off her capability to speak. _I know a great many things. I see him now. The determined punk has broken into the catacombs from a secret entrance. He's here now bellow the castle if you wish to know._

Though Amelia didn't speak, the vampire king sensed her confusion.

_It is daylight so unfortunately I cannot appear to you in person, but luckily I have the gift of being in multiple places at once. It was another physiological development of mine. _The voice held a smug pride in it. _Come to me my child for I wish to see you in person. _

Amelia opened her mouth to ask the legendary vampire how on earth she was going to find him in the enormous castle when he spoke again. _Your senses will tell you were to go. Let your human limitations leave your body… _

Amelia closed her eyes and slowly rose to her feet. She could feel a familiar hunger pulling at her insides. Raising a pale wrist to her lips, her own elongated fangs sank into her own flesh.

* * *

Down in the Labyrinth bellow the castle, the force of the atomic blast caused the whole foundation to shake. Ancient stones rained down upon the Hunter from the ceiling. D ducked and dodged the crumbling ceiling, which had endured the strain of supporting hundreds of tons of stone castle for a thousand years. A single staircase ascended up to the castle above. Without hesitation, D turned into a streak of black, flying up the stone steps with unnatural speed to escape the falling rubble bellow.

He was in a room. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of polished white marble and the hundreds of pillars that connected floor to ceiling all held D's dark reflection. A flicker of emotion gleamed dimly in D's dark eyes; nostalgia.

"You're memory of this room in particular is especially strong…" his left hand said aloud. "That is most interesting. I wonder why this room holds such meaning for you..."

Though he could wonder until the end of time, even D's left hand would probably never know what tied D to this room. The Hunter was a master of his emotions and thoughts. Even a being that was connected to him physically only knew what D allowed it to know. Just then, a dark, deep voice much like his own flooded D's mind. The being that spoke was nowhere in sight.

_So my son has returned to me as a grown man. How interesting. I've always wondered what awaits you in your future years. It seems I am privileged to find out earlier than I expected…_

* * *

Amelia's eyes glowed red as a new strength enveloped her. She sensed a door hidden behind a wooden bookcase across the room. It wasn't with her sense of smell, sight, or hearing that she noticed the door. It was simply a feeling that couldn't be described nor compared to any other feeling she'd ever had. She just simply _sensed_ it. Moving the bookcase aside with ease, Amelia crawled through the door.

A sort of crawl space lay behind it. She crawled along its dark interior with an unseen sort of drive as if she was being pulled by an invisible thread. After crawling for quite some time – Amelia couldn't tell how long – she began to hear voices ahead. Upon crawling another hundred feet she came to a wrought iron grate. On the other side of the grate lay an enormous room, if one could call it that. The place was an immense cavern bellow ground that stretched along the width of the entire castle. Stalagmites and stalactites hung from the ceiling and floor in a fashion that brought to mind the special effects of a B-rate horror film. The voice of Dracula chuckled inside her head once more.

_Just punch out the grate._ It said. It sounded as if he was holding back laughter. _Come on_, _go ahead_. _It should be an easy task for someone like yourself. _

Amelia did just as the voice had said and upon crawling out of the cramped tunnel space, she found herself standing before a crowd of vampires. Men and woman alike, and even a few children made up the huge pack that much have been a thousand strong. Amelia noted their white skin, pale as death, and their bright crimson eyes. Every eye was on her, every figure frozen like deadly, beautiful statues. A tall, dark form draped in black stood at the front of the enormous army.

_Come my child_. The voice of the vampire king commanded.

As if being pulled by an invisible thread, Amelia slowly advanced towards the infamous Count Dracula and his followers with silent, zombie-like steps.

* * *

"It's been awhile." D answered the voice of his father stiffly. "I came here to find a way back to my appropriate time, as I'm sure you're already aware."

_Yes, yes, I am aware._ The voice said, then it laughed. _It's funny that you would choose to come here of all places on this human-ridden planet to seek assistance. I'm not even sure if I should oblige…any assistance from me will surely cost you. _

"How?" Though it seemed like D should be worried – after all he was being threatened by the one being that would wield absolute power over the whole planet in a tyrannical reign that would last several millennia – his beautiful face remained as placid and empty as ever. His voice was no exception either.

_It seems you are in acquaintance with the half-breed daughter of Marcus Valentine, which is a fact I find most interesting. As you must be well aware, your younger self at present refuses his rightful place at his father's side as a part of the vampire's master race. I am willing to make a trade…_

D's reply was a cold remark of the highest cruelty. "Amelia is of no value to me."

_Ouch. _The vampire king replied. _Have you no regard for lives other than your own? Even _I'm_ not that cold hearted…my son, what have you become? _

"A Vampire Hunter." And with that, D took off, leaping twenty feet in the air. His gleaming blade nearly touched the white marble ceiling as he descended downward, slashing at the air. There was a cry of pain and a tall, black form appeared a hundred feet away from the deadly Hunter.

_You know my tricks well, D, though I suppose that is to be expected. Your skills are great as well, though again I am not surprised. Come at me then Hunter. How great is your strength? Try this!_

A great ball of blazing energy flew at the Hunter. Invisible with speed, D dogged the energy ball and extended his left hand in a counter attack. A storm of rough wooden needles assailed the vampire king from D's left hand. Each and every one was burned to charred black dust for around the lord of the Undead, a ring of white fire blazed. Dracula was unaffected by the light and heat for the fire was chemically induced. With a sweep of his great black cloak, the white hot fire was extinguished. D leapt from the floor and slashed at his father. Easily deflecting blow after blow, the vampire laughed hysterically.

_How delightful! We're evenly matched! Ah, splendid! _

The vampire withdrew a hand from his cape. Covered in a thick liquid metal, the material could cut through marble. D recalled seeing the weapon on another Noble's hand on a previous job long ago. Naturally it was one of his father's developments. With a single swipe, he deflected D's blade and plunged his hand into his son's gut. Able to twist slightly to avoid his vital organs from being pierced, the hand only cut through his lower ribs and kidney. D gritted his teeth and, covering his injured right side with his left hand, he stabbed with his right. Just then, an ear splitting screech rang out as yet another atomic bomb exploded, this time it was within yards of the ancient castle. The force of the explosion collapsed the castle entirely. The ceiling caved in upon the dueling father and son and the magnificent marble room was destroyed. Covering his face with his long coat, D crouched, shielding himself from the falling rubble. A blazing wave of five thousand degrease hit the two and in the middle of the destruction, there was a ripping sound as a black hole appeared in the air. It was a rip in the dimension caused by the nuclear blast combined with the sheer power of the Sacred Ancestor. With all the strength he could muster, D leapt into the fast closing hole as the vampire king and his ten thousand undead followers were buried in the rubble. As D vanished from the present world, he heard Dracula shout after him.

_Though I am only a thousand years now and am young, when we next meet I will be unmatched in power!_

Down bellow in the cavern, Amelia escaped her trance as soon as Dracula was buried under the rubble. Fighting the hands of thousands of vampires, she fled from them and the castle for forever. Above ground, the radiation and heat did not bother her preternatural skin. She saw D in the distance as he leapt into the air and mysteriously vanished without a trace as if he was swallowed by some unseen hole.

_So, he made it back…_ She thought. She felt a presence beside her and turned around to find a small pale-faced boy looking up at her with large, brilliantly blue eyes. The child's clothes were tattered and dirty. His dress was odd, looking like clothes you would find in an eighteenth century novel. His black hair was long and thick. Realizing the identity of the child, Amelia smiled.

"You must be D." She said softly. The child nodded, backing away from her. Distrust colored his innocent eyes.

"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you." Amelia crouched down to his height and held out her hand. "My name is Amelia. I...I hope we run into each other again someday."

The boy did not reply to her, nor did he take her hand. He simply stood staring at her as if she were a monster. Still smiling kindly, Amelia stood. "It's going to be a rough road ahead." She said, looking out over the burnt trees and the former village of Bran which now lay in ruin, riddled with burnt corpses. "Stay strong, kiddo." Amelia left the abandoned child, knowing that if it truly was D, he'd get along better by himself.

Thousands of miles away, across the ocean, a small group of twenty slowly emerged from a concrete structure bellow ground. Looking out over the ravaged land, the leader of the group motioned for the rest of the survivors to follow. They were the only living being around for miles.

* * *

Much like before, the world that lay behind the dimensional rip was black, sightless, smell-less and soundless. D fell, or rather traveled quickly though the empty space; it was impossible to tell which direction he was drifting. He could have been falling upwards for all he could tell. There was a bright, blinding flash of white and the next instant, D opened his eyes to a dark blue sky. He could see the green tops of trees in his peripheral vision, but not their trunks and the blue sky stretched on forever in front of him. He was lying on his back. Springing to his feet, D examined his surroundings.

He was back where he belonged, the year 12090, but the setting was slightly different than when he'd left it. For one, the oncoming light of day erased the stars and moon and tinted the sky a dark blue. The castle ruins had crumbled to dust and lay scattered around the remains of the once beautiful courtyard in which he had been dueling Luna Lukami, the vampire Countess. His dark eyes scanned the ruins, searching for the Noblewoman. He found her soon enough. Her body lay crumpled and broken on the withered ground. There was a fist-sized hole in the left side of her chest where her immortal heart had once beet. Fresh blood surrounded her corpse in a crimson pool.

"Looks like someone did the job for us." A hoarse voice observed. There was the sound of whistling air as the possessed appendage inhaled a deep breath of the early morning air. "Ahh! It sure feels good to be back! What an adventure!"

D made no comment as he slowly approached the vampire's corpse. Kneeling beside the bloody cadaver, D withdrew a black silk sack from the Countess's snow white gown. He emptied its contents into his black gloved hand. One million gold coins.

"I guess this was your payment." His left hand said. "I'm surprised whoever killed her didn't take it first…"

D secured the sack inside his black coat and stood, turned on his heal, and left the destroyed castle behind.

Outside the ruins, the morning sun had fully risen, illuminating the sky with bright blue light. The form of D's cyborg horse was exactly where he had left it – tethered to a large tree on the forest's edge. Approaching the cybernetic steed, D noticed something different. There was another figure astride D's horse. D's stride quickened slightly and as he walked, his right hand reached for the long sword on his back, prepared to fight to the death with another foe. Ten feet away, the identity of the stranger became clear. D lowered his arm from the hilt of his weapon and came to a stop in front of the beautiful woman astride his horse.

"Surprised?" An all-too familiar voice greeted him, though her voice no longer held the innocent cheerfulness he had expected from it. It was Amelia, though she looked much different now. In place of her modest school uniform and jeans, she wore tight-fitting black pants and knee high boots. A large holster hung from a gun belt around her hips bearing an enormous revolver-like weapon. The collar scooped low on her white shirt and a black girdle was cinched tight around her slender waist. The long baggy sleeves were rolled up, exposing her pale forearms and her long black hair was done up in a sloppy braid that hung down her back. Her face had changed somewhat as well; the lines of her mouth were tighter and sterner and her brilliant green eyes had lost their light; their depth and emptiness matched D's exactly. The two Hunters stared at each other, unmoving. Neither one spoke for a long while.

"You were right you know." Amelia said finally, her tone melancholy. "Everything you said would happen happened. I was there that day...at _his_ castle. I haven't forgotten, you know."

D nodded. His sad eyes mirrored hers as he reflected on that very day which he had experienced as a small child and then again a second time not two hours previous. "Yes, I know."

"How long has it been?" the Huntress's lips turned up into a small smile. " About 10,100 years?"

D's normally unchanging mouth turned to a rare grimace. "Give or take."

A second long silence descended upon the pair of half-breeds - both Hunters. Though when they had first met when she was only a child they had seemed so different, they now seemed so alike. The morning was well underway and hidden birds sang away in the trees. Amelia made no move to dismount from D's horse.

"If you don't mind, I should go." D said finally. His voice was soft and quiet.

The Huntress nodded. "My horse was torn to bits by a lesser dragon." She said. "If it doesn't inconvenience you too much, I would appreciate a ride to the next town. There's one not far from here."

"Very well," D replied, "Move over then."

"Thank you."

Amelia slid herself to the back of the saddle and D mounted in front of her. In response to the click of his master's tongue, the cyborg horse broke into a trot down the shady dark road leading away from the sunbathed ruins. The corpse of the Noblewoman crumbled to dust under the sun's bright rays, scattered away into the forest by the slight breeze.

* * *

_Man...I cant believe it's finally over. I had said that I was going to post an extra chapter for this fic, but after writing a near complete draft I decided against it. Writing romance just really isn't my thing....especially with VHD. I always feel like I'm degrading the author's characters and I respect D's character way too much for that. Plus, I'm sure none of you want to see my sex fail. _

_Well, I have finally come to the end of this long fanfic. _

_I hope you enjoyed it!  
_


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